Reborn
by shadowsythe22
Summary: (sequel to "dream machine"). After the tragic incident with queen chrysalis Crimson is brought into the world in a new body with no memories of who he is or was. he becomes reborn as a new pony in more ways than one and to save his wife he must fully realize what he has become and tap into his hidden power to take down his toughest foe yet. (Rated M for clop)
1. Chapter 1: Reawakening

the time is late fall four months after the incident with the changeling queen. crimsons death idolized him as a national hero and has been given his on crypt in the canterlot garden of hero's. as crimsons adventuring became more and more famous it caused inspiration and tension to rise. this caused a period in equestria as the rise to adventure. ponies everywhere started going out and having great adventures. it even attracted ponies from around the world to equestria as well and soon the country became a bustling land of discovery and adventure.

along with the inspiration that brought along the rise to adventure, crimsons influence inspired a group of ponies called 'The Crimson Order' to take shape. the crimson order is vast group of adventurers inspired by crimson to protect and serve the innocent or any pony that needs help or assistance. they take in requests for services and send ponies out to aid in those quests.

but this era of adventure brought rise to more than just adventurers and the crimson order. as adventurers went along and helped ponies some... weren't so helpful. they used their seemingly large power or strength to take advantage of the ponies of equestria. this gave rise to bandits, thieves, outlaws, assassins, and pirates. this has been going on for the last three years once crimson blast left for the quest that would make him a legend. for three years the crimson order has fought against the evil running around this land. they built camps, bunkers, and fortresses... but so did the bandits.

while war wages on a great force lies dormant inside a strange and mysterious body. the soul of the hero king crimson blast lie within the body of an unfamiliar pony. without his original body or memories crimson has no hope of easily returning his life to normal. he must fight on and discover the truth about himself. because only he can restore balance to the chaotic rift forced upon equestria at the moment of his death. he must fight... if he wants to know his friends, his family and any pony he cares for, he must fight... but no pony could imagine the challenges and trouble that lies ahead

-(November, 19, 2012th century of of celestias rule)-

i woke up suddenly in the middle of the day sweating and breathing heavily. i looked around to see i was sitting under a tree with my bags next to me and a leather wide brim hat resting on my head. i couldn't remember anything. the only things i knew was that i had lost my memory and that i needed to figure out who i was. it's good that i at least know how to walk, talk and function normally... as well as fly too now that i see the pair of brown wings beside me. i looked myself over to see what i could find out.

i was average height for a pony with brown a short brown coat. i had a long black tail and short black hair. my cutie mark was a picture of a lightning bolt with the colors of fire. and i had wings. i could remember how to fly... so that's another thing, but it doesn't help much. i looked down the road i was sleeping next to and i saw a town. i must have been traveling here... but what is this place. maybe i should go inside and find out.

before i went to get up i decided to check my bags. i opened up one pouch and there was nothing in it. i opened up the other and there was a large sack of money. i took it out and tied it to the straps of my saddlebags. at least i have some money to help me keep going. and by the looks of it i have a lot of money... at least 2000 bits. this bag must have like some kind of charm on it or something. i smiled and got up and started walking into the town. as i walked i could feel something rubbing against my back. i turned back to see i had a bow and some arrows strung to my back... i can't believe i hadn't noticed those... i guess that means i can shoot a bow well.

as i continued into the town i started to look around and the town looked beautiful. it was bright and happy. but the ponies inside of it weren't as happy and colorful as i had expected them to be. a few of them looked like they were in mourning and the rest were rather mellow and depressed. i thought about what was going on here and i decided to ask somepony. and conveniently i was at a stall selling food. my stomach growled and i thought of this as the perfect coincidence. i walked up to the pony at the stall and he smiled when he saw me.

"hello sir." he said. "what can i get you today."

"i'll take two apple pies and four bottles of apple cider." i said. i had a deep abut kind voice. i paid him and he handed me my food which i stuffed into my bag.

"anything else?" he asked.

"uh...yeah." i said. "why does everypony seem so glum and upset?"

"where in mourning... we lost a great hero and adventurer month ago when he protected all of equestria from a horrible changeling invasion... he has a monument right here in ponyville... right in front of town hall." he said.

"wow..." i exclaimed "a month ago and everyponies still in mourning."

"yeah..." he said. " he had a few friends here... not sure of their names but i know that they haven't taken it well... i heard that even the princess herself is mourning."

"the princess even..." i said playing along but i had no clue we had a princess. she must be beautiful. i wonder what the king and queen are like. so that means we live in a monarchy... which is fine seeing everypony is happy... besides what happened to this hero guy. "well thank you for the info." i said waving goodbye as i walked away.

i walked for a bit until i came across a bench and sat down to eat my food. i munched down the whole pie. i must have been hungry and finished off two bottles of cider. when i was done i threw the trash away and continued on my way through... through... dammit, i forgot to ask that stallion what this town was... though i think i'm in someplace called equestria... but that just might be the name of the country.

i walked along the dirt path passing other ponies who had a sullen feeling lingering with them. i decided to walk instead of fly so i could take in the sights of the town. i had no idea where i was going but i was trying my best to get to the center of town and see the statue of this hero that sales stallion talked about. but with all these sullen faces and mellow ponies flying doesn't seem so bad anymore.

i lifted my wings and flew up into the air. i rose up high above the buildings and i could get a good bird's eye view of the town. i was surprised to see i wasn't that far from what i guessed was the center of town. i flew towards a big opening and touched down next to a large building. i figured it out to be town hall. i saw a statue in the middle of the large opening and i walked forward and stood in front of the statue to look at it.

it was a large stone statue of a pony... but it seemed to magically glow. there were symbols over it that glowed blue with energy. the pony himself was rather imposing. he had long hair and was wearing an impressive set of spiked armour with a crown. he had his wings jetting out and spread eagle. he had a large sword by his side and one of his front hooves was lifted up. his head was turned to the right and he had a determined look on his face like he was focused on his next target. at the foot of the statue laid piles of flowers oh which most were withered. above those was a plaque. it read:

"here symbols the life of the brave and powerful crimson blast... protector of equestria, who selflessly gave his life to not only repel the terrible changeling swarm but save the lives of his friends and the princess herself... may he rest in eternal peace."

i looked back up at the statue. even though the figure in the statue was rather imposing and looked powerful i couldn't help but feel like it was driving the feeling of hope and love into my heart. whoever this pony was... i would have loved to meet him. i smiled one more time at the statue of the hero and left the town circle.

i walked out of the clearing and back into the crowded streets. i wasn't sure what i should be looking for next... probably a place to sleep. it shouldn't be hard finding a hotel or and inn... or something. i started walking down streets and kept an eye out for any hotels or inns. so far no luck... if this goes on i'll just have to settle on the first one i find. i looked up to the sky and it was well past noon. the sky was already showing hints of bright orange as the sun loomed closer to the edge of the earth... i'm going to have to make this quick.

i kept walking around aimlessly for a few more minutes before i finally found some kind of inn. i smiled at my own luck and walked over to the door. stepped inside and looked around at the cozy well lit inn. there was a bar and tables for eating and a staircase with a sign next to it that read "rooms". i walked over to the bar and sat down. a mare came out from the back and smiled when she saw me. she walked over and looked me over.

"what can i do for ya'..." she asked.

"i'm looking to rent out a room." i said.

"sure thing sweetie..." the mare replied winking at me as she cleaned a few beer glasses with a cloth. i pulled a room key off a wall next to her and tossed it on the counter. "the rooms are 15 bits a night..." she said. i reached into my gold pouch and pulled out fifteen bits. she grabbed them and smiled.

"thank you..." i said.

"would you like a drink with that sweetie." she said. i smiled and chuckled to myself... i don't remember if i used to be an avid drinker or anything... hell i can't even remember what beer tastes like... but one drink won't hurt.

"sure..." i said.

"what'll it be?..." she asked

"whatevers cheap..." i said. she smiled and walked into the back. i waited for a few seconds before she came back with a handful of mugs and started putting them away. she grabbed one and filled it up at a beer barrel sitting on a stand behind the counter. she placed the drink in front of me and i paid her for it.

i carefully took a sip of the beer. it wasn't that bad. i took a chug of it and placed it down. i went to take another sip before the sound of beautiful and alluring music filled the room. i looked back to see a grey mare with a huge cello playing in the corner. all the stallions who were eating at the tables or sitting by the fire were watching her. some more avidly than others. i couldn't help but get distracted by her music as well.

i sat there and watched her play for a few minutes before her song ended and she took a break. i smiled and went back to my beer. i took another drink and my cold beer was now flat and at room temperature... i guess i had been watching for much more than a few minutes. i chugged the rest of the beer and put the glass on the table.

i spent the next hour or so drinking beer and sitting at the bar. i was kind of hoping that getting drunk would make me remember who i was. or at least give me some kind of clue. but it didn't seem to help at all, infact it was probably just making things worse. i started getting a bit sweaty so i reached up and pulled off my hat and placed it on the counter.

it was a leather wide brim hat that stretched out over at least a foot past the cap. it was a dark faded blue with an equally faded and dirty dark red stripe along the base of the cap. the cap had a buckle on it. it was a metal skull that was worn and ragged. it was a rather interesting hat. i liked it but i wish i knew why had it... or where i got it. my other gear wasn't so impressive , i learned after checking them too.

my saddle bags were just ordinary tan leather saddle bags with straps and pockets. the bow strung to my back was a basic wooden bow with white wrappings for grip. and the arrows were just regular iron arrows. nothing fancy and i only had like 15 of them. that's all i had to my name. my bags, a hat, a bow, 15 arrows, and something close to 2000 bits in a cloth bound pouch. i sighed deeply and let my head fall and hit the bar counter.

i sat there with my head buried in my arms and i could feel somepony walk over and take the seat next to me. i heard her order something to drink and to my surprise it was a mares voice ordering something. out of curiosity i looked up and saw a grey mare with dark grey hair and purple eyes sitting at the bar sipping from a glass of wine.

"hey..." i said poking my head up. "you're the mare who was playing the cello."

"i'm not interested." she said in a rather uptight sounding voice... but there was a bit more to her voice than that. i can't quite explain it.

"interested in what?" i asked.

"you know what." she said.

"i don't know anything." i said burying my head in my hooves.

"you got that right." she mumbled to herself.

"you know lady it's not always safe to assume..." i said.

"well pardon me if i assume that you were just trying to buy me a drink and get me drunk enough to try something." she said rolling her eyes.

"i think you've been playing in too many low rate bars..." i said. the bar mare gave me a dirty look when she heard what i said. "no offense..." i said to the bar mare. "you've got good music... you should be playing at more professional places." she looked over to me and i could feel her mood change.

"wow..." she said holding her wine glass. "thats the first time somepony has bothered to compliment my music."

"like i said... you've been playing in too many sleazy bars." i said making sure the bar mare wasn't around to hear me.

"i know..." she said. "but my career has been in a sort of downward spiral and i need to play here to get back on my hooves." she said taking another sip of her wine. i'm surprised i was being so smooth after having drank four beers... then again they were cheap beers.

"so what's you're name..." i asked her. she smiled and took another sip of her wine.

"my name is octavia..." she said. "what's yours?" she asked. i paniced quietly on the inside because i didn't know what my name was. i could probably think of something. i looked at eyes my bow and remembered my cutie mark. it wasn't long until i came up with a fake (or possibly real) name.

"i'm hot shot." i said.

"you must be another one of those inspired adventurers." she said.

"inspired adventurer?" i said questionably.

"yeah... you know about the hero adventurer crimson blast don't you?" she asked.

"yeah i saw his statue in the town center." i said.

"well when he became more famous across equestria he started a spark and inspired ponies to become adventurers like he was. there have been a lot of them. equestria has been a rather civil country and it still is but this is the first time in a long time we've ever bothered ourselves with adventuring unlike other countries." she said. "when did you become inspired to be an adventurer?"

"a while ago..." i said. "i came here from a small town to the west."

"oh you mean apalooza..." she said. "you definitely have the western style about you." i had no idea what she was saying or what i was getting into but i decided to start making this my alibi until i get my memory back.

"yeah..." i said going with the story. "it's a nice town but not very exciting... so i traveled here and decided i would settle in this town... uhm what town is this anyway." i asked. she just smiled and giggled a bit.

"how do you not know the name of the town you decided to travel to." she said hiding her smile behind her hoof.

"i tripped and hit my head on a rock on my way here... jogged my memory and i've been a bit confused since then." i said partially admitting to my memory loss.

"a rock?" she she said holding back her laughter.

"you're not buying it are you." i said.

"not at all..." she said. "what's the real story."

"alright you got me..." i said. " i've been wandering around for quite some time without a map and i'm horribly lost."

"that makes more sense..." she said. "well this is the lovely town of ponyville."

"ponyville huh." i said. "it's a nice place."

"yes but it's not always the most peaceful place in equestria." she said and almost by fate a stallion came over and wedged himself in between us and he was looking at octavia. a look of disgust washed over octavias face.

"hey there baby..." said the stallion. "why don't you and i wet our whistles with some drinks and go make some music together." that was a disgusting pickup line. it was also quite obvious that this pony was wasted out of his mind as he smelled of booze and depression.

"please leave me alone." octavia said turning her gaze away from the drunk stallion.

" c'mon honey don't be like that." he said grabbing her arm and tugging her.

"let go you creep..." she said. i got up and pulled on the stallions shoulder until he was facing me.

"what do you want ugly." he said.

"me and my friend here were having a conversation before you so rudely interrupted..." i said. "leave..." i said in a threatening voice... i didn't want to fight him because frankly... i don't know if i can fight or not and i'd rather not find out the hard way.

"a mare like her needs a real colt... not you." he said. his voice was slurred and he seemed rather dizzy.

"leave now." i repeated.

"alright i'll go..." he said. "right after THIS!" he exclaimed as he swung his hoof and smashed his beer bottle over the side of my head. it smashed against my skull and i stumbled and fell to the ground. before i could start seeing clear i felt something hit me right in the face. i'm sure that he had just punched me. i started swinging randomly and i managed to get a few hits but this guy was seriously kicking my ass.

it wasn't long before i tripped over a chair and fell to the ground. he jumped on me and started choking me. i tried to pull his hooves from my throat so i could breathe but i was too dazed and dizzy to get a good hold. i could feel the room growing even darker as i clasped for air.

"alright... you've had enough to drink." said a strong voice from close by. i saw a pair of hooves grab the pony by the shoulders and pull him off me. the stallion was then thrown into a nearby table. i gasped and sputtered trying to catch my breath. i looked over to see a large stallion with huge armour plating and a sword.

the drunk stallion had thrown a beer bottle at the armoured stallion but the glass shattered over his gear and didn't phase him whatsoever.

"hey hey hey..." said the bar mare. "watch it!"

"sorry holly..." said the armoured stallion. the drunk stallion charged at him but the armoured stallion got him first and smacked him clean across the face. the room filled with the thud of the strike and a small crack suggesting that he just broke the other stallions snout. i just sat there and watched bleeding from my snout and the side of my head. the drunk stallion hit the floor and was still... it was a knock out.

the armoured stallion smiled at his victory and walked over to me. a few other colts grabbed the drunk and threw him out of the inn. as he moved closer i could see that the stallion had a horn on his head... he was a unicorn.

"you alright guy." he said reaching a hoof out to help me up. i grabbed his hoof and got up on my own four hooves.

"yeah i'll live..." i said. "that was pretty cheap blind siding me with a beer bottle."

"here why don't i buy you and you're mare friend over there a few drinks to wash out the pain." he said.

"thanks." i replied. we both sat at the bar and waited for the ber mare to serve us.

"so i haven't seen you around here before... new in town." asked the stallion. i was sitting next to octavia and he was sitting next to me.

"he's from apalooza... out west." said octavia.

"well you've got the western feel about you." he said. he reached his hoof out and picked up my hat to look at it. "and the hat's a nice touch too... so stranger you got a name?" he asked.

"yeah... my names hot shot." i said. "what about you... what's you're name?"

"Thunder Rush."

**-READ THIS-**

**instead of an authors note i will give you this warning**

**the story is nothing near what you expected it would come out to be and you will find out by chapter four and in chapter five as well. there is a lot of violence... seriously guys i could paint the script red with all the blood spilled in the book that ive written up as well.**

**also know that there is sex and aggressive and vulgar language. along with this there are also suggestive scenes and a few big words here and there... but mostly just sex and violence.**

**it does get pretty dark at a few points.**

**i can tell you guys this now... you will never expect whats coming next...even when it seems like something is going to happen and you think that i'm foreshadowing it's true that i am. you can most likely guess what might happen but you will not know how it happens.**

**i had a lot of fun with this.**


	2. Chapter 2: Inside The Fire

I woke up the next day in my room... Well in the tavern room. I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. I could already feel the headache setting in from the hangover, or the beer bottle to the head...or both. The room was big just as big as an average bedroom. Enough space to move around and a desk and drawer. There was a window but the curtains were pulled over it and the shades where batted down to prevent any light whatsoever from getting in.

I moaned and groaned at the feeling of my pounding head and slowly tossed the covers off of me and sat up on the edge of the bed. I remember the fight from last night and that one stallion that practically saved my life. I forget his name... Something rush. I can remember having a few drinks with him and that mare Octavia but anything after that is a haze... I probably had too much to drink.

"Nngh..." Moaned a voice behind me. It startled me a bit and I jumped slightly and quickly looked back. I turned to see that mare from last night tossing and turning in the covers. She turned to face me but she was still sleeping. She had a smile on her face though. I really hope I didn't do anything stupid last night and that there's a good reason why she's in my bed right now.

I just let out a deep sigh and looked around the room. There wasn't much to the room. A bed, a dresser with a mirror, a wardrobe, a small desk, and an end table. There was a carpet on the floor and like I mentioned earlier a window behind me on the other side of the bed. All my stuff was here. My bags and my money too which meant I wasn't mugged or stolen from in the confusion last night. I looked over to my hat which was resting on the dresser.

Strangely I saw a small piece of paper sticking out from the red stripe running along the base of the hat. I got off the bed and almost stumbled over my own hooves... But I caught myself and cleared my head. I walked over to the hat and pulled the paper from the brim of the hat. It was a small note. It read:

" hey there hot shot. Been a while since I met some pony with your kind of guts and I admire that. I'm going to be traveling and you probably won't see me for a while... But if we do meet we should share a drink again. Anyway I left a gift for you in the top left drawer... I think you'll find it suiting. See you in the future... Thunder rush."

That was the guy I met last night who saved my dumb ass. Hmm I don't remember much from last night but I must have done something to impress him. And that's pretty cool seeing as he must be some kind of great adventurer. I smiled at the note and looked at the top left drawer like the note said. I opened it up and saw some clothes inside.

I pulled out one of the pairs of clothes and it was leather armor. I smiled and started putting it on. It took a lot more effort than I'd like to admit and it was confusing with all the straps and stuff but after a few minutes I got it on and looked over it. It was simple cloth armor with dark leather padding. It had a bandolier running across the chest and a few other pockets and a utility belt.

I looked back to the drawer again and pulled out the other piece of clothing. I unfolded it and when I saw what it was I smiled. It was a leather duster. It was closely the same color as my hat and it had a few pockets on it. I smiled and started putting it on. It was a good fit and the opening basically made it look like a cape with sleeves. I looked up and stared at myself in the mirror. I don't think I remember what my face was like.

I had a rugged black after shave and a large scar running across my face. It started above my right eye and ran down to my left cheek. But my eyes where the most interesting feature. They were blood red and angry looking. All in all I looked like a generic cow pony. Like in old western tales. I decided to complete the outfit by grabbing my hat and resting it on my head. I guess this is who I was... Hot shot, the lone wolf... I kinda like it.

I heard more shuffling over by the bed and I looked over to see Octavia twisting and turning again. She let out a cute little yawn and slowly opened her eyes. She looked around and tried to remember where she was. She looked over and rested her eyes on me.

" good morning..." She said. " did you sleep well?"

" yeah..." I said. " ugh... We didn't, you know..." I said trying to lead her on. She seemed confused at first but it only took her a few seconds to figure it out.

" oh heavens no..." She said. " I wouldn't bring myself to sleep with a stallion on the first date."

" alright..." I said. " sorry I just can't remember what happened last night... I might have had too much to drink."

" well we had a few drinks with that nice stallion thunder rush and he fixed your wounds with his magic." She said... So it was the hangover I was feeling. " then it started to get late and you were quite drunk... I was getting ready to head home but it was raining heavily outside so you offered to share your room with me."

" that was awfully nice of me considering I was drunk." I replied.

" well I was a bit hesitant at first but since I didn't have many other options and after you did stick up for me I decided I could trust you." She said smiling now and getting out of bed. " so... Thank you."

" no problem..." I said grinning. " will you be fine going home by yourself" I asked.

" yes the rain should be gone by now." She said. " I'll be on my way now I guess." She said heading to the door. She walked over and opened the door and stood there with it open but she paused before leaving. " and uhm... Will you be here again tonight." She asked lightly blushing.

" yeah... I can probably stay here until I get a job and can afford a house." I said.

" alright... So... I'll see you tonight."

" yeah..." I said with a smile. She smiled back and left closing the door behind her. When she was gone I looked back at the mirror and stared at myself. I tried thinking about what I should do now. If I really was an adventurer or whatever I have no idea what I would do. But I guess if I want to keep living I should look for a job or something. Shouldn't be too hard to find one around here.

I walked over to my stuff and started getting ready. I strung my bow to my back along with the quiver of arrows. While I was holding the arrows I noticed a few of them were covered in dried blood. I guess I know how to shoot a bow... And I know how to kill. It also seems like I reuse arrows. I grabbed my pouch of money and it strung neatly to the side of my belt. I decided to leave my bags here because I probably won't need them.

With a goal set in my mind I headed out of the door and closed it behind me. I locked it shut and put the key in one of my pockets. I walked down the hall and on my way down I passed a bathroom... I've never had to go so bad in my life. I walked into the bathroom and did my business then left. I continued down the hall and then down the stairs to the lobby and bar. I walked down into the bar and the bar main from last night smiled when she saw me.

" hey there sweetie... Feeling better." She asked.

" yeah... Sorry about the brawl last night." I said.

" no worries sugar... Bar fights happen around here often enough that we just forget about them the next day." She said as she wiped down the countertop with a wet cloth. " can I fix ya something for breakfast?" She asked. " comes free with the room."

" sure..." I said.

" alright... Be back with something good." She said leaving the bar and going into a back room. I sat at the bar in the same place I did last night. I sat and waited patiently keeping my mind occupied with random things around the bar.

" hey Lone Ranger..." Shouted some guy on the other side of the bar. " kill any bandits lately." He said. He and his friends started laughing, I just rolled my eyes and ignored him.

" yeah... Or maybe you looking to wrangle some cattle." Another stallion said. They all started laughing harder. I sat there and ignored them. They kept laughing and I could tell by the closeness of their voice they were walking over here. And sure enough I was right. One pony rested his leg on the low part of the bar stool and looked at me and another one came over and leaned on the counter. I could tell there were at least two more behind me.

" what's the matter... Partner... No sense of humor." He said. He and his friends chuckled a bit but I remained emotionless and silent hiding my face under the brim on my hat.

" what's a hick like you doing here anyway." Said another pony. I looked over at him and I saw that there were four ponies surrounding me. They must be adventurers because they're wearing armor... But it's just cloth or leather gear.

" here's breakfast." Said the bar mare walking out of the back with a plate of hot food. She placed it down and caught wind of the situation. " hey c'mon no trouble." She said.

" mind your business lady... This is between us and the cowboy here." Said one stallion... Presumably the leader of the group. I knew there was going to be trouble and without trying I already came up with a plan of attack... I have no idea how but I had to try, or get my ass kicked again.

" can I get a bottle of scotch too." I said. She looked at me with curiosity and grabbed a bottle. She placed it down and I grabbed the neck of the bottle.

" drowning out your sorrows now." Said one stallion. They all laughed why I took a swig of the scotch.

" one for me." I said before taking another swig. " and one for you." I said after spinning in the stool and swingin the bottle of scotch at the ponies head. It shattered against his skull and he fell to the ground. I was now facing the two ponies behind me. Without hesitation I bucked out my back hooves and kicked them both in the stomach. They went stumbling back into a table.

Using the force of the kick I launched myself off the stool and quickly moved behind the last pony. I wrapped my hooves around his neck and held him in a choke hold. He clasped for air for a few seconds.

" yippee kai ye... Mother fucker." I said softly right before the lack of oxygen caused him to pass out and he fell limp. I let go of him knowing if I kept my hold he would die. He dropped to the floor and I looked at the damage I had done. I guess when I'm not dazed and confused I can be a real fighter... Sweet. The mare behind the counter just smiled. " sorry 'bout the mess." I said.

" don't sweat it kid... The mess is an easy fix and I'll just put the scotch on your bill." She said. I smiled and tipped my hat before turning around and leaving. I walked outside into the fresh new day. It wasn't too warm or bright out like I expected. It was cloudy and grey. There was a fair breeze in the air and it was an average temperature. If I had to guess it must be around mid fall.

The clouds on the sky where dark and threatened to rain at any moment. So I should keep an eye out for that. I started walking down the street and some of the ponies I passed gave me strange looks. I'm sure I could just pass off as an adventurer but most of the ones I've seen wear armor with swords or daggers or something. I looked different. I did end up passing a few ponies that looked like adventurers.

As I saw some of them pass by I noticed that a fair majority of them were wearing the same kind of emblem on their armor. It was a picture of two crossed swords with a red gem in the center. It must be some kind of guild or something. I decided to ignore it and keep going forward.

As I walked around i started looking for 'help wanted' signs in windows of shops or something but there wasn't much around. I guess I was wrong about it being easy to find work in this town. Now that I think of it I never did get to eat my breakfast this morning... And I'm starving now.

I walked a bit longer before stopping at a shop. The sign said 'sugar cube corner' and the entire house looked like it was edible. I'll be damned if this place doesn't sell food. I walked forward and walked past the salon styled doors into the store. And I was correct when I said they sold food. It was mostly cakes and sweets but still... I could go for anything.

I walked up to the counter and rang the bell for service. I looked behind me to see a few ponies in the shop eating and talking. They were staring at me but when I looked at them they stopped. I turned my head and presumed they were staring again. I waited patiently before a plump looking mare came out the back with a tray of cupcakes balancing on her nose. She put the cupcakes on the counter and looked over to me.

" how can I..." She paused when she saw me. " uhm... What can I get you sir." She said. She was a light blue with pink swirly hair. She had a frilly apron on that had a picture of a cake on it.

" sorry... But I'll just have a muffin or something." I said.

"Sure..." The mare said. " do you know what kind of muffin you want?"... Damn I hadn't thought about that. I thought rapidly and just said the first thing that I thought made sense.

" just a blueberry muffin please." I said.

" alright... That'll be two bits." She said. I reached into my pouch and grabbed two bits and handed them to her. She put them in a cash register and grabbed a blueberry muffin from under the counter in the display case. She wrapped it up in paper and put it in a brown paper bag then handed it to me. " here you are." She said. I could tell that she was uncomfortable around me. It might just be my appearance.

" thank you ma'am" I said tipping my hat to her. I think I'm going to do that now... Just tip my hat... And keep a toothpick sticking out of my mouth. " oh and one more thing... " I said stopping her from going back into the kitchen. " do you know where I could find some work around here."

" sorry... I wouldn't know." She said ending the conversation quickly and returning to the kitchen. I stood there confused for a second.

" look mommy... It's a cowboy." Said a kid from behind. I turned back to see a small colt with his mother eating at the table. I smiled at the kid and tipped my hat to him before leaving. I walked out of the store and back into town. I pulled the muffin out of the bag and started munching down. i finished the muffin and threw away my trash.

i walked away from the large edible looking store and kept my eyes out for wanted signs. i'm sure the market is probably the best place to be looking for a job. i know that i have wings and could easily fly up and look down from the sky... but i liked walking better for some reason. it just felt right... besides walking better suits my outfit and and figure. i was walking through the industrial part of the market when i spotted something.

there was a large sign posted on a window of a large store... it was a blacksmith's armor and weapons shop. the sign read "adventurers wanted... REWARD" the word 'reward was is caps and written in fancy lettering. its not a steady job but if i'm supposed to be an adventurer i guess i should start working out the kinks with a quest or something.

i walked over and looked more closely at the sign. there wasn't anything else on it. i shrugged and opened the door to the shop. i walked in and i was instantly greeted by the heat of a large furnace in the back. there were large weapons hanging from the walls and decorative and elegant suits of armour on stands. there were also shields daggers and other various weapons and utilities. there was a pony by an anvil hitting a mold of a sword and making it sharper. i walked over and waited for him to notice me.

he hammered at the sword for a little bit and stopped to check it. he turned it with his large thick blacksmiths gloves and he smiled. he gently placed it in a barrel of cool water. the hot metal touching the cold water filled the room with the hissing of steam. it died down after a few seconds and the barrel sat there steaming with a new sword in it. he took off the goggles he had on his head and wiped them.

"thank you for waiting patiently." he said. i hadn't known he was aware of me. he stood up and turned to see me. when he got a glimpse of me his expression grew stronger. "are you here for work?" he asked excitedly but trying to hide it.

"uhm yes... you're sign says you need the help of an adventurer." i said.

"oh thank celestia somepony finally has the guts to help." he said. "you've got the job."

"great.. but... what's the job exactly?" i asked.

"well you see a band of thugs has been terrorizing this part of the market..." said the stallion walking behind the counter and doing a few things of little importance. "they often come here and take my weapons and money... this has been going on for almost a month."

"do you want me to take care of them?" i asked nervously but hiding it.

"well it would be better if you could just scare them off... they are just worthless street thugs after all... but if they put up a fight then you do what you have to do." he said. he looked behind him and checked the clock hanging on the wall. "you came here just in time... they should be here around one... like usual." he said letting out a deep sigh.

"alright..." i said. "i'll see what i can do." i said to the blacksmith. he smiled and took his place behind the counter. i grabbed a chair and placed it near the door. i sat there and waited. i took my seat near the door because when they come in here i should be able to block off their exit.

i wasn't so sure i was ready for this however. i don't remember what to do or how i should react to these kinds of situations. i don't know any smart battle strategies. well i shouldn't say that. i can't remember them willingly but i guess i was good at this in the past because i keep playing out the fight and looking over every possibility subconsciously. every angle and little detail ran through my head uncontrollably and i had planned out every possible outcome of the fight... now all i had to do was pick one and play it out.

before i could gather all my nerves there was a knock at the door. the pony outside knocked twice then kicked the door in. it almost hit me in the face if i hadn't stopped it. i was now hiding behind the door. i peaked over to see what was happening and i saw three ponies. one was wearing large metal armour with helmet and the other two were wearing leather armour with metal plating in a few spots. i figured the one with the big armor is the leader of the bunch.

"afternoon pops." said the leader taking his helmet off. "what have you got for us today." he said. i slowly got up and unstrung the bow from my back and held it with my wings. i grabbed an arrow and rested it gently on top of the string ready to pull it back. i walked over and stood in front of the door.

"you thugs can't keep this up forever." said the blacksmith. the three ponies started looking at the weapons and armor around still not noticing me.

"yeah and who's going to stop us." said one of the other two ponies.

"i will." i said kicking the door closed and pulling the arrow back on my bow... ready to fire. all three looked back at me with surprise but they didn't seem intimidated. i stared at them with my deep red eyes and the blacksmith smiled.

"hey what are you trying to pull here." said the leader to the blacksmith. "you think this is going to work."

"i'm sick of you thugs terrorizing us merchants... somepony needs to put you in you're place." all three of them just laughed.

"and you think this cowboy is going to help..." said the leader. "look at him... he's a freak." he and his friends laughed at me. "alright kid i'll tell you what... just go... leave and there won't be a problem." he said. i stood there motionless holding the bow up with the arrow ready to fire.

"look kid just go." said one of the other thugs. "besides we need to have a little talk with our friend here." he said gesturing to the blacksmith. i noticed he had his hand on his sword. i'm sure if i don't do anything they'll hurt him... and i'm not sure if i can live with that kind of guilt. before i said anything a strategy flashed into my head and seared its place into my brain within a second. the leader was taking a few steps forward trying to intimidate me.

"look kid the quiet mysterious thing isn't helping you here... just go." said the leader. i smiled.

"should have kept that helmet on." i said right before letting go of the arrow in my bow. as i whirled through the air i silently prayed it would hit him. and it did... right in between his eyes. the room filled with a thud and crack of the arrows impact and the leader stopped dead in his tracks... literally. blood started trickling from the shaft of the arrow sticking out of his head and his eyes started to roll into the back of his head. he soon tilted to the right and fell over and made a large thud as his metal armor clanged against the ground... he was dead.

a wave of fear and shock soon spread over the whole room and made the air thick. i grabbed another arrow and readied it on my bow and aimed for the one on the left. their expressions went from confident to shocked... then fear. i expected them to attack in a violent fit of rage... but they weren't thugs, they were cowards. when they noticed i had another arrow ready they stepped back and their eyes shrunk. lucky for them i didn't plan on killing anypony else today.

"you... k-killed him." said one of the thugs.

"how could..." the other one started saying before i interrupted him.

"shut up." i said. they both went silent. "you're going to do what i saw then you're going to leave ponyville forever." i said. they both stayed silent but i knew that they weren't going to defy me. "first take off you're armour and gear... all of it." i said.

"but-" is all he got out before i let go off the arrow and it grazed past his cheek. it hit the wall on the other end and filled the room with a thud. his eyes shrunk even more and they both started taking off their armor and gear. when they were done they stood there with nothing to but the fur on their backs.

"good..." i said. "now for him." i said nudging an already set arrow to their dead leader. they slowly walked over and started taking the armor and gear off the leader. me and the blacksmith both watched as the two ponies struggled to strip down their leader. after a while they finally stripped him down and he was soon naked with nothing but the arrow sticking from his head... i wanted that back too though.

i walked over to the dead corpse and the other two ponies back up with every step i took. i kept the bow aimed at them while i grabbed the arrow from the stallions head and ripped it out. i got a little blood on me... but i didn't mind, it just helps look more intimidating. i shook most of the blood off the arrow and put it back in my quiver. i also made the other pony take the arrow from the wall and toss it to me. soon i had all my arrows and they had nothing.

"please..." said one of the thugs. "just let us go now."

"fine." i said letting my bow settle to a rest. "get out of here... leave ponyville and don't come back because if i see either of you two ever again i will find you." i said with an intimidating voice. they both bolted for the door but i stopped them. "wait..." i shouted. they both stopped on a dime and turned to me.

"what now..." one of them said with the hint of fear still lingering over them and growing stronger.

"you forgot something." i said gesturing to the dead body of their leader. " you weren't planning on leaving him here... were you?" i said pulling back on the arrow a little. they both rushed over to their leader and picked him up. one pony carried him on his back and they both rushed out of the blacksmiths... "and that's that." i said putting my arrow back in the quiver and restringing my bow to my back. the blacksmith walked over from behind the counter.

"damnit... didn't think you'd kill him." he said. "that was a bit harsh."

"maybe..." i said. "then again this town is a bit more softer than out west in apalooza." i said making up a lie to seem tough and justify my actions.

"thank you stranger for helping me." he said. "most other ponies wouldn't help or didn't care... but you were kind enough to... thank you again."

"it was nothing." i said. "it's been awhile since i've seen some action." i said making up another lie. "i figured this would be a nice way to work out the kinks."

"well i think they've been worked out well enough." said the blacksmith. "now lets talk about your reward." he walked over to the counter like he was going to do business with me.

"it's no trouble..." i said acting modest.

"no i insist." he said. "and when i first saw you i knew exactly what kind of reward you should have." he said going behind to counter. he came back up a few seconds later holding something in his hooves. it was something wrapped in cloth. "i can't offer you any money since those bandits have been running me dry..." he said unwrapping the cloth. "but i can give you this." he said revealing what was behind the cloth.

it was a tomahawk. it had a shining steel blade outline and was hollow in the middle and i dark black and smooth handle with a grip and some war paint on it. across from the axe head was a point for stabbing. it had a fang or something at the end of the grip handle and there were some feathers strung to the handle tape. it looked like an indian tomahawk.

"this is a native equestrian war axe..." said the blacksmith. "or as others see it... an indian tomahawk."... i knew it. "i've had this for a while but nopony had bought it... i thought you might like it... plus i think it's quite suiting for a cowboy like yourself to carry a weapon like this." he said. i reached out and grabbed the tomahawk. i held it up and looked at it. it felt light and was a medium length weapon... i liked it.

"gotta love irony..." i said with a smile. the blacksmith chuckled to himself. i placed the axe on a weapon slot on my belt and i hung there menacingly. "thank you... it's perfect." i said.

"not a problem... and of course you're welcome to the equipment the bandits dropped." he said. we both walked over to the pile of armor and gear.

"well i don't need the armor... so you should take it and sell it for profit." i said. he smiled and i searched the bandits stuff. i grabbed a nice dagger off the leaders gear and some other gear like a rope and some smoke bombs and other neat stuff. i also grabbed a few random folded up maps... hopefully one of them will be a town map of ponyville. i also found three bags of gold each was filled quite well. i took some of the gold and dumped it in my own pouch. i took like 100 bits but there was still a lot left.

i put that to the side. i kept searching and i grabbed a bag from the pile that weighed quite a bit. i pulled it out and it was just a single pouch but it was full to the brim. i opened it up and rested my eyes on the treasures within. there was silverware, jewelry, and gems. i quickly scanned around for another pouch like this but there was none... just this one. it must be loot from the other shops.

"i know those items anywhere..." said the blacksmith. "the jewelry and gems belong to the jeweler two shops over and the spoons and knives are works of the silversmith down the street... they must have made stops before showing their ugly heads here."

"well i guess we should return them..." i said. the blacksmith just smiled. "and you said that these thugs have been terrorizing the other shops too?"

"the whole damn street." he said.

"well..." i said shaking the bags full of bits in my hand. "we should probably find a way to split this up between the shops."

"you're not going to keep it for yourself?" he said.

"well i already took a few bits..." i said. "besides if i keep all of this i might as well have stolen from the shops myself."

"finally an adventurer with his head on straight." said the blacksmith. "crimson himself would have been proud."

"this crimson guy everypony is freaking out about seems like a real great guy." i said as i helped the blacksmith clean up the shop and gather supplies to return to the other shops.

"well of course..." he said. "you must have heard about the Hero King crimson blast."

"not really... i'm a lone wolf... haven't been in one place for too long and i never made friends." i said.

"well he was the greatest thing to happen to equestria since the princess herself." he said. "hell he lived right here in this very town of ours... since he became a legend every adventurer in the world has made it their life's goal to come here and meet him." he said.

"but he's dead now isn't he." i said.

"yes he is... the corpse was given its own tomb in the canterlot garden of hero's and celestia preserved his body with magic so it wouldn't decompose... then right after ponyville immortalized him by erecting a statue in his honor right in the center of town."

"i saw it... he seems like he would be worthy of the title you gave him." i said.

"and he was..." he said. we finished cleaning up and i gathered all the stolen goods and the money. i got up and we were both about to go to the other shops before there was a knock on the door. it sounded sudden and panicky. the blacksmith walked over to the door and opened it up. suddenly five other ponies rushed into the store. three stallions and two mares.

"is it true." asked one of the stallions.

"is that thug really dead." continued one of the mares. they were all crowding around the blacksmith.

"are you alright." asked the other mare.

"how'd you pull it off." asked a different stallion. they were bombing him with questions and had seemed to completely overlook me.

"woah woah woah..." he said warding them off, it seemed to work in silencing them but they all seemed excited. these must be the other shopkeepers. "yes it's true... he's dead and his grunts have run away with his dead carcass." the five other ponies cheered over his death. it's a bit dark when you think about it... but i guess they have reason to celebrate. "now hold on, hold on..." he said calming them down again. "i wasn't the one who killed him... it was that fine lad over there." he said pointing to me. the others turned their gazes over to me and rushed me.

"thank you adventurer." said one of them.

"were finally free." said another.

"alright calm down." said the blacksmith. "we found some of you're silverware silvia... and you're jewelry...ruby." he said addressing the two mares. they both looked at me and smiled. i grabbed the bag and opened it up to show them.

"oh my... they don't like to part ways with what they steal." said one mare holding up a necklace and the other holding a spoon. "they took this from me almost a month ago." they smiled and i tipped my hat to them. they sorted out their belongings and put them in their own bags. i dropped the empty leather bag since i had no use for it.

"thank you adventurer..." said one of the mares. "you have our gratitude."

"any time ma'am..." i said. i pulled up the bags of money too. "and heres the money they probably stole from y'all." i said. did i just say 'y'all'?... this is the first time i've just noticed my light southern-ish accent. oh well, it only helps add to the stereotype. "i don't know how much is in it... but i'm sure you'll be able to divide it evenly amongst yourselves." i handed one of the stallions the bags and he grabbed them smiling.

"thank you..." he said. "uhm... what is you're name."

"the names hot shot..." i said.

"well hot shot you have our gratitude..." said a different stallion. i smiled and made my way to the door. i turned back and looked at them before leaving.

"if you ever need help again... just ask." i said before leaving. i closed door behind me and made my way down the street... this was a successful first day. i wouldn't count yesterday as a first day since i got here at like four. i looked up at the sky and it was still dull and grey but it was starting to get darker. the blacksmith said the bandits came every day around one and that wasn't too long ago... so i fear it might start raining.

i will have to admit... i could get used to this adventuring stuff. i've already got a hook to my title, cowboy. besides the lifestyle seems interesting as well. maybe that's what i was, an adventurer...probably not, when i woke up yesterday i didn't have a single thing with me except some money, my hat, and a bow with 15 arrows... i was probably just some worthless traveler. needless to say i think i'd rather stick with being an adventurer. i think i should try and see what else i can do around town.

unfortunately that pile of folded up maps i grabbed of the thugs gear didn't have a map of ponyville in it so i ended up just wandering around aimlessly for the entire rest of the day before i found myself back at town center. when i got there i looked back at the statue of crimson. i let out a deep sigh and kept looking at the statue. i noticed that there were fresh flowers laying at the foot of the statue. i smiled and turned away. i could find my way back to the inn from here. if i just take the right path and keep going forward until i find the first inn i should be fine.

so i did just that. i walked out of the town clearing and down the street. it was only five feet later that i felt a tap on the back of my hat... then another, and another. i looked up and my bad feeling was true. i sat there looking at the sky as drops of rain started falling and hitting my face. the rain quickly picked up and it was pouring now. i decided to fly up and make a quick trip to the inn but to the best of my luck i saw a flash and soon after the boom of thunder. it wasn't just rain... it was a lightning storm. and it was a close one too.

flying would just get me killed so i need to run. and i did. i ran down the dirt path which soon softened into mud as the rain continued. my clothes were soaked and muddy. i kept running as the sky flickered with the flashes of lightning and the air was filled with the booming of thunder. i kept running and soon enough to my relief i came upon the inn. i rushed over and pulled the door open. i stepped inside and closed the door quickly. i looked around to see a bunch of stallions sitting at tables or near the fire chatting and talking. there were some at the bar. i let out a deep sigh knowing i'm out of the storm.

i looked over to the end of the room and saw octavia tuning her cello. when she saw me she smiled. i smiled too and tipped my hat to her... well i tried, but the water had softened the leather and it was dropping down a bit. i let out another sigh and walked over to the bar. i took a seat and let the bar stool soak up some of the water. it wasn't too long before the bar mare walked over.

"hows the weather sugar." she said with a smile.

" great..." i said with a bit of anger in my voice.

"ah don't worry..." she said. "just wring you're clothes out in the bathroom then sit in front of the fire for a while... works like a charm."

"thanks..." i said getting up and sloshing my way up the stairs to the bathroom. i took my gear off there and wrung it out over the sink. i straightened it out a put it back on. i did all the straps and put the duster on along with my hat. i walked out of the bathroom and then back downstairs. i took a seat by one of the chairs facing the fire. i took the closest one to octavia. there were two other colts here that were wearing damp clothes. "how long does this take." i asked one of them.

"the cloth will be dry in ten minutes..." said one colt. "but the leather will take longer... just sit in front of the fire for an hour and you should be set."

"thanks." i said tipping my hat to him. i sat there and stared at the fire while the storm raged outside. the dimly lit bar filled up with the flashes of lightning cutting through the windows and the boom of thunder which only seemed to grow worse. octavia had already started playing her cello. i tried to get lost in the music to make time pass by faster but every time i was starting to drift away the crack of thunder brought me back.

"here ya go sugar." said the bar mare who was standing right next to me. she was holding out a bottle of whiskey.

"i didn't order this." i said.

"no that stallion over there ordered it for you." she said pointing to a colt by the bar. he had armoured robes on... if that makes sense. they were cloth robes but with decorative and ornate plates of steel fashioned to them. he was looking at me and i got a look at his face. he had blue eyes, tan fur, and white hair. he didn't look old but his hair was strangely white and unkempt. he also had a horn on his head and a sword hilted to a utility belt. but the most significant feature was the middle plate on his chest. it looked like a picture of two crossed swords was burned into the steel somehow and a red ruby was augmented in the middle of it. like the symbol some of the adventurers wear.

"did he now." i said. i was getting suspicious. i grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the bar mare. i looked at him and he looked at me. he smiled and turned away to the counter.

"he said he would like to talk to you when you're done with you're drink." she said

"i'll talk to him now." i said getting up. i had been sitting by the fire for a while and my clothes had dried pretty well but they're still a little damp. i walked over to the bar and took the seat next to the pony. he turned to me and smiled.

"you decided to approach a strange situation with you're wits about you... that's an admirable decision." he said. his voice sounded young but also wise. i could see now that he was blind in one eye as it was a pale milky blue.

"who are you?" i asked. "and what's that insignia?"

"your perceptive too... i would expect so from a marksman" he said. "i know about you're accomplishment today at the market on iron street." he said. "i was actually on my way to go take care of the problem. i was right next to the blacksmiths when the door burst open and two ponies ran out carrying a dead corpse with the stench of fear lingering behind them."

"so what... you're like some kind of all knowing mage or something." i said.

"no... i was just in the right place at the right time." he said. "the thugs go in armed to the teeth, and a few minutes later they leave running ,tails between their legs, carrying their dead leader... then, you walk out."

"is this going somewhere?" i asked.

"yes... i hope you know that you're a fine and brave hero." he said. "i don't know what you did to make those thugs so afraid or how you killed the leader but whatever it was it worked."

"it wasn't too hard." i said taking a swig of the whiskey. "their leader made the mistake of taking his helmet off... the rest is history, like him."

"not a glamorous victory but still all well in the end." he said.

"so i still have questions." i said. "who are you, what do you want, and why should i care." he chuckled to himself quietly while i took another swig of whiskey.

"my name is cold fire." he said. "i'm the leader of the crimson order... which is the insignia you may have seen on few adventurers around ponyville... and i would like to invite you into the order." he said holding out one of the badges the other ponies wear.

"sounds interesting." i said. "but i'm still waiting for you to tell me why i care." he laughed a little bit and took a sip from his own drink.

"i like you're delightfully sarcastic and comedic attitude... it's quite charming." he said still chuckling a bit. "well if you're looking to be a great adventurer and help the ponies of equestria then i'd join... ponies usually look at us a guards for ponyville. not only that but we frequently receive requests from ponies in ponyville to help them with mundane or dangerous tasks... these tasks are ranked based on threat level and then assigned to other members."

"so basically its an organized group of adventurers." i said.

"exactly..." he said. "so what do you say."

"not interested." i said turning him down immediately. his expression changed from happy to confused.

"not interested?... are you sure." he said.

"yep... i'm sure." i said taking another chug of whiskey. even though the bottle was almost half gone it hadn't hit me yet so this wasn't a dumb drunken decision... i meant it. i don't want to get tangled up in some complicated system of adventuring... takes the fun out of it.

"i was honestly expecting you to say yes." he said. "oh well i guess not."

"sorry to turn you down like that... but i'm just not interested."

"well... this isn't the first time..." he said. "but the other times those ponies ended up becoming criminals or ruffians that we would eventually deal with... you're the first one to show promise who's turned us down."

"i guess so." i said. he was taking this defeat very well. then again i had expected somepony like him to handle it well.

"oh well." he said downing the rest of his drink. "it was worth the try... it was nice meeting you and i'm sure we'll see each other again... until then... i'll be watching." he said before his horn glowed and in a flash of light he was gone. i let out a deep sigh and turned back to the bar. the bar mare walked over and leaned against the counter.

"sheesh..." she said. "what was that about?"

"i don't even know." i said. "something about the crimson order..."

"oh yeah i know them..." she said. "bunch of tough looking guys walking around with badges and weapons playing guard... they can be a bit arrogant at some times but they never do anypony harm... only good... probably the best thing to have happened to this town after crimson himself died."

"well they offered me to join them and i turned him down." i said.

"huh... well good for you." she said. "and you still owe me for the scotch you wasted on that jerks face this morning." she said. i smiled and laughed silently to myself.

"yeah i can pay for it... " i said with a smirk. i reached into my coin pouch and paid her for the scotch that i 'wasted'... i thought it was a practical use for a cheap bottle of booze. i sat at the bar for a while and ordered some dinner. i got a bowl of carrot soup and scarfed it down in under a minute. i hadn't eaten too regularly since i woke up and i've been hungry for a long time.

i ordered a drink or two after my dinner and sat at the bar still trying my best to listen to octavias music over the storm. the storm did a good job of drowning her music out that after a while i realized she wasn't playing anymore, but the music still lingered around in my head. she put her cello away and walked over to the bar and joined me. she looked at me and we exchanged a smile. she ordered a glass of wine and i ordered another beer.

"so would you like to stay another night or do you think you could brave the storm." i said making her chuckle.

"another night doesn't sound too bad... besides this place is nice and quiet during the night." she said.

"why... you're house too loud." i said.

"no its the things inside the house..." she said rolling her eyes.

"what... a husband or something." i said with a bit of surprise.

"no... not married, but i do have a roommate... she's a big time DJ at a lot of clubs and she's always blasting her music at all hours of the day and night... drives me crazy."

"and i guess moving out isn't an option..." i said.

"not a safe option at least." she said resting her head on her hooves. "but i can't really complain... she's been my best friend for as long as i can remember... she drives me crazy and i think the same can be said on both side... but i could never hate her." she let out a deep sigh and took a large sip of wine.

"i'm sure blasting her music without you there to yell at her is driving her crazy... she probably misses you." i said.

"she probably does." octavia said smiling gently. i went to say something else but i was interrupted by a boom of thunder. the boom came mere seconds after the lightning flash. i went to speak but it wasn't over. soon the ground trembled and the air was filled with the sound of smashing and breaking sounds. large crashes and thuds everywhere. soon it finally stopped.

"what the hell was that." said one of the stallions in the bar.

"probably just a quake." said another. soon before we could keep discussing the door to the bar was forced open violently by a mare with orange hair and a lighter orange coat. she was nervous and had a sense of fear about here.

"help..." she screamed. without hesitation i got up. "a tree fell on my neighbors house... somepony help." she said. again without hesitation i rushed by her and out into the storm. a few other stallions followed. i looked over and i could see a large tree had been struck by lightning and cleaved through a house close by.

the lightning set the tree on fire and in turn the tree ignited the house. it wasn't too bad but there was fire everywhere. good thing the rain was keeping the fire from spreading to the other houses. i rushed over and got close to the wreckage. i looked for a way in which was easy as there was a gaping divide cutting through the house. i hopped on top of the tree log and maneuvered my way through falling wreckage and fire. i looked around and i tried to find any sign of life but there was too much fire and rubble i soon found it hard to breathe.

"HELP." shouted a voice from close by. i traced the voice to a mare stuck on the second story which was visible through the gaping maw in her house. "please help." she begged. i spread my wings and quickly flew up. i was about to reach the second story when i heard a crack from above. i looked up and part of the roof gave in. i quickly dodged the rubble and kept going. i flew over and reached the mare.

"don't worry ma'am" i said. "i'll get you out of here." i reached out for her and she jumped right on me and held on for her life. i started flying out when another portion of the roof gave in... silently this time, catching me off guard. when the rubble and burning wood hit me i was startled and i careened for the ground. i did manage to cover the mare and hit the ground. i hit the log with a thud and more rubble fell on top of me.

when i finally cleared up i was lying on top of the mare like a cage and she was balled up in fear. more of the house kept falling around. i went to fly again but just moving my wings caused me pain... they were broken. i tried getting up and move forward but something had caught my leg. i looked back to see a beam of wood keeping me down. i looked at the mare.

"go..." i said. "get out... run." i said. she did so without hesitation. she ran out just as more of the house collapsed around me and trapped me in here. ah...crap. there was fire everywhere now and it had started to spread to the beam trapping my leg. i looked back to see the top of the beam was on fire now. i went to lift it up but the heat of the beam and the fire burned my hooves and i let go. i could feel my leg growing hotter as the fire burned closer to my leg.

i tried just yanking my leg from underneath but that just caused a lot of pain which made me cry out. i also noticed a worrying amount of blood leaking out from under the beam. i quickly checked the underside of the higher up parts of the beam and there were nails sticking out everywhere. they must have punctured something important in my leg. this house really doesn't want me to leave. if those nails heat up from the fire its going to hurt... a lot.

i felt a sudden burning in my leg and i yelled in pain. the fire had grown close to my leg and was burning me now. in a rush of adrenaline and courage i grabbed the burning and nail ridden underside of the beam and lifted it up. doing so burned and stabbed my hooves but i pushed through the pain. i lifted the beam up and unpunctured my leg. i let it go and slid the nails from out of my front hooves as well. i yelled in pain and grit my teeth. i didn't have time for damage control.

i got up... barely, and started to limp over to what i thought was my best bet for an exit. i couldn't make it though... and i fell. i stretched my hoof out as if the exit were that close and i was done. i couldn't make it anymore... dammit... i don't want to die. i never should have become an adventurer... now this is what i get. and burning alive is a pretty shitty way to go out. i turned around and laid on my back. i looked up at the rainy night sky while the fires of my inferno burned around me. they grew hotter and reached further into the sky... like they were trying to take the last sight from my life and burn in along with me.

i started sweating and the heat around me was unbearable. i was sweating so much that i think i ran out of sweat. the fires around me flourished and roared. every second they would inch forward. part of me was hoping i would bleed out instead of burning alive... at least pass out so i won't experience the pain. but there was no hope for that. all i could do was sit there while the burning house crashed around me... it was almost like it was taunting me. i'm sure getting crushed by those beams would be a quicker way out... but this house wanted to see me burn.

it's funny how things happen so quickly. first i was at the bar sharing a few drinks with a lovely and charming mare... now i'm trapped in a blazing inferno. i just laid there while the world went hazy and i struggled to breathe. the fire was so close now... it could already feel it singing the hair on my coat. i waited for it to come, for it to engulf me in it's wholeness and just turn me into another pile of ashes with the rest of the house. it grew so much closer, only a few inches away and then... it stopped.

that's all... it just stopped. like the fire was just erased from the world and all was left was a burnt down house. i stared in awe as i could start to feel rain wash over my body once again. the pain and the burning was real... but it was like the fire was just in my imagination. i looked back up to the sky and the clouds started fading... and i could see the stars and the moon. even though i was growing weak and dizzy i could make out all the stars.

****...and i smiled.


	3. Chapter 3: Indifference

i wasn't sure if i was dead, or just sleeping. i wouldn't fiend either to be surprising... both were very likely outcomes. all i could see was white... everything was white. i was my own self just sitting there in a white box for what seemed like days on end. it was torture if only something would happen... something interesting. what felt like two days ago i got so fed up with it i just decided to run... and i've been running ever since. it was like an endless sea of nothing. i kept running, not getting tired, not taking breaks, and not running out of breath. it seemed like the only way out was to move forward and hope there's an end.

i kept running through the nothingness and suddenly... there was fire. the white turned to black and everything around me was fire. only a thin black stripe going forward. i kept running as the fires burned and flickered around me. i kept running and running and i could see the night sky. not above of me but in front of me. i ran towards it and the stars and dots grew closer as the fire grew weaker, dimmer, and fainter.

soon enough there was no fire. only the night sky. i could feel myself getting picked up off the ground and just floating there. almost like i was actually in space itself. stars and planets surrounded me on every side. either i'm dead... or i'm at the hospital right now and they put me under with something STRONG. suddenly i could hear voices from all angles and distances start telling me things. i could hear them perfectly but i couldn't remember a single thing they said. i had no idea what was going on and i started to panic. i wanted to run but i couldn't move... it was like i wasn't even in my body anymore... i was just watching these things unfold.

i could feel myself going forward and the stars started to flash by me and spin. i went faster and faster as a faint light glowed in the distance. i flew by faster and faster as it grew brighter and the voices in my head all started saying the same words over and over again "remember...remember." they said. i didn't know what to remember and soon the light grew closer and closer and engulfed me in its entirety. everything was light and warm. i could feel everything around me. and then suddenly... i was in a hospital.

i shot up from the hospital bed covered in sweat and breathing heavily. i had sensors stuck to me and the heart rate monitor they were attached to was beeping and freaking out over my accelerated heart rate. as i looked around i started to calm down. i even started smiling and laughing as i knew i was alive now. but that went away when i started thinking about the damages i had taken. i looked down at my body.

i was almost completely wrapped in linen wrappings with blood stains in various but numerous places. i pushed the covers off me and the same was for my legs, arms, and wings. my right leg was especially bad. that had been the leg that got trapped under the beam. there were large and more colorful blood spots on that leg than the other dried up blood stains. any places that weren't bandaged up we're red and burnt pretty bad.

i let out a deep sigh and laid back in the bed. i tried to think about what i just witnessed in my dreams... or whatever that was, but every time i tried to think the bleeping of the heart rate monitor kept distracting and annoying me. i grabbed the sensors stuck to my chest and ripped them off. the machine read me as flatlining and set of a constant and continuous beep. probably not the smartest thing to do... and it only made the problem i was trying to fix, worse. oh well, at least somepony will catch wind of the machine and rush in here presuming i'm dead.

and just as i predicted a nurse with a white coat and red mane came bursting in here with a look of worry and shock on her face. she looked over to see me resting on the bed looking at her. she looked at me worryingly. i was being rather still but she let out a sigh of reliefe when i blinked. she walked over and flicked off the machine and pushed a button to raise the bed in sitting position.

"i keep telling you ponies not to pull those off... it's not a very nice way of calling me here." said the nurse.

"sorry..." i said. "the beeping was giving me a headache."

"and so you thought the constant beep of flatlining would help." she said.

"wasn't my smartest decision." i said. she let out another deep sigh.

"well at least you're conscious." she said. "how are you feeling?"

"i feel like i should be dead." i replied. she just moaned and started walking to the other side of the bed to open the windows. i expected to be blinded by sunlight but again it was a gloomy and cloudy day. "hey did you put me under with anything..." i asked. she turned back with a confused face.

"just 20 cc's of standard medical sedatives... why, should we be aware of an allergy or reaction?" she asked.

"no... it's just that i had some real strange dreams while i was sleeping." i said.

"sleeping?" said the nurse. "you were induced into a neurological sub-coma." i looked at her with a confused face.

"alright... again with smaller words." i said.

"you were out for a month... you're lucky you're not dead." she said with a bit of annoyance in her voice. "you might have experienced some kind of shock."

"almost dying isn't shocking enough?" i said... she just rolled her eyes.

"no apparently not..." she said. "when we got you technically you were dead but you still had a heartbeat..." she said.

"i was dead?" i said with confusion.

"technically you were..." she replied. "almost all of you're major organs had shut down and stopped functioning entirely... even you're brain." she said. she walked over to a projection screen that had a few x-rays on it already. she flicked the light on and the x-rays were visible.

"what is this." i asked looking at the pictures. they were brain outlines and x-rays... probably mine.

"this is you're brain..." she said. "these were from the first week." she said pointing to two pictures of a brain outline but it was completely black in all corners... both of them were the same. "the black are dead brain cells... now look over here." she said pointing at the other pictures. "these are x-rays as we progressed into the next two weeks.

the first picture was like the rest but there was a small greenish yellow patch in the middle. the next one was like the last but the greenish yellow had moved forward and a light orange was in the middle. the next one was ,again, the same but the previous colors pushed out and made room for a darker orange in the center. the next one was completely filled in with color with dark red in the center. then it spread and the colors changed as the last one showed a picture of a brain with red and orange patches everywhere with a faint orange and yellow green in a few spots.

"this is you're brain yesterday." she said pointing at the last picture. "not only is it completely healthy it's actually healthier than any brain i've ever seen. and during the last week of you did start having tantrums in you're sleep... you're eyes were dilated and frantic like you were dreaming..." she said. "whatever happened to you is probably one of the greatest medical mysteries in all of equestria..."

"thats quite a bit to wake up to." i said.

"yeah well i'm sure you'll be fine." she said. "but you should know about you're physical injuries too... while you were into the first week of treatment you're body absolutely refused to heal. after heavy bandaging we had to keep you on an IV."

"and this." i said gesturing to my whole body.

"some patches of second degree burns... almost all the rest of you're body is covered in first degree burns... except for you're leg though which was torn open and covered in third degree burns... the burns and the tearing will scar you forever but the other burns will fade and the second degree marks should hide nicely under you're fur when it fully grows back in a day or two."

so i'm horribly disfigured?" i said.

"only for a day or two." said the nurse going towards the door. "once the fur grows back it should hide almost everything except the damages to you're leg... only that part will be disfigured." she said opening the door. "oh and i've got a friend of mine outside who said she'd love to pick you're brain... i'll be sending her in soon... you're stuffs in the closet... you're officially excused from the hospital... have a nice day." she said and then shut the door while leaving... i'm not sure if i like that nurse. she talked with an undertone of sas and sarcasm the whole time and expected me to know what the fuck she was saying.

i slowly got up from the hospital bed. everything was sore but i could easily push through it. i sat at the end and then hopped onto the floor. the cold floor stung against my burnt hooves and i grit my teeth. the pain quickly washed away and the cold felt delightfully soothing against my hooves... i wish the inn i stay at, had showers... a cold shower would be the best right now.

i walked over to the closet. putting pressure on my right back hoof hurt so i mostly limped over to the closet. i got there and opened it up. i looked at my gear. surprisingly it wasn't burnt to hell. infact the places where it should have been melted and burnt were whole. i took them down and laid them on the hospital bed. i reached for the bandages all over my body but i decided to leave them on as a cushion from friction.

i started putting my gear on. i got the hang of it and it didn't take me too long to put all the pieces of and strap it up. i fastened my weapons and gear to the armor nice and tight. there were a few places where you could see the bloodied bandages past the armor but i didn't care. i banged out the duster because ironically it had been collecting dust in that closet for the past month. i stopped shaking it out and pulled it over my leather armor. i flipped up the collar and picked up my hat.

i held the hat for a second and looked at the skull buckle just before the brim. i thought about what i was going to do with my life now... i don't think i want to adventure anymore, but then again i felt like i wanted to keep going more badly then before. i was conflicted, to say the least. i just let out a deep sigh and placed the hat upon my head. i strung my bow and arrows to my back and i was all set.

i heard the door click behind me and i turned to see it slowly swinging open. i watched as a purple unicorn with dark purple hair with a lighter shade of purple and pink stripes running through her hair walked into the room. here eyes as well were purple and her cutie mark was a big pink and white star surrounded by several smaller stars. she walked in and closed the door behind her. she smiled when she saw me but i remained emotionless.

"hello sir." she said. "my name is twilight sparkle." i just stared at her waiting for her to keep talking. when she didn't keep talking the room filled with a sense of awkwardness mainly coming from her. finally i broke the silence.

"is there something i can help you with." i said.

"yes actually... you probably don't know me but i've seen you before." she said. i raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "you see i was the one who doused the fire with my magic and ultimately saved you're life." she said. now i raised both eyebrows in subtle shock.

"well then miss sparkle i guess i owe you a thank you." i said tipping my hat to her.

"i only doused the fire... it was two other stallions that pulled you out of the wreckage." she said. "luckily nopony got... well nopony died at least." i'm glad she stopped herself from saying 'nopony got hurt' because she seems nice and it wouldn't feel right having to viciously prove how wrong she was.

"well that's good." i said... now like i said... is there something i can help you with miss sparkle... because if not i would like to get going." i said walking towards the door. i walked past her and opened the door.

"wait..." she said running up to me. "where are you from?" she asked. i wanted to tell my fake story but for some reason i'm sick of that... i'll tell her the truth.

"i don't know." i said walking down the hall with her close behind me.

"you don't know!... how can you not know."

"i just don't."

"what's you're name?"

"i don't know." i said.

"where are you traveling to."

"nowhere." i said.

"why are you in ponyville?" she asked.

"i don't know." i replied once again.

"who are you? she asked getting a bit frustrated with me as we continued to walk down the hall and into the lobby.

"i don't know." i said.

"why don't you know?"

"i don't know..." i replied. she stopped and let out a frustrated grunt as i pushed the hospital doors open and walked outside. she soon came running through the doors as well and stayed close behind me.

"where are you going now." she asked.

"not sure..." i said. she let out a frustrated grunt again.

"so you're a nameless pony wandering around aimlessly with no goals, no home, nopony to turn to, and no clue what he's doing... you might as well have just started existing yesterday." she said.

"thats what it feels like." i said. "the nurse said you wanted to poke my brain... i don't care if you do but there's nothing to poke at... i woke up under a tree in ponyville the day before the accident that hospitalized me. i had no memory of who i was or what i was doing. all i had was this hat and a bag of money... nothing else... that's my life miss sparkle... you're welcome." i said as she stood there confused with her jaw to the floor. i kept walking down the path into town.

"wait wait wait." she said running after me and quickly catching up.

"what is it now miss sparkle."

"you said you lost you're memory right." she said.

"i never said that... i said i woke up without my memory... never said anything about loosing it."

"this is hard enough to figure out as it is... fancy riddles aren't helping."

"what are you trying to figure out?" i asked.

"who you are." she replied. i stopped and looked back at her.

"miss sparkle why are you taking such great interest in me... i ain't no different from every other adventurer here... hell their lives are probably far more interesting than mine, go annoy them."

"you think i'm annoying!" she said ecstatically.

"yes..." i said.

"fine... i'm done with you." she said turning around and leaving. i just watched her walk away for a few seconds then turned and left myself. i have no idea who the hell that was but i'm sure it wouldn't hurt either of us if we never saw each other again... now to find the inn... again.

i went to flap my wings and fly but it hurt to move them. they're probably still healing. plus they were bandaged up near the base making it hard to fly in the first place. i just walked around for a while with the brim of my hat hiding my face. i still got strange looks from a few ponies but i was used to it by now. it wasn't too long that after wandering around i found myself in the town center again... why do i keep winding up here.

at least it gives me a good start to getting to the inn. i ignored the statue of crimson and headed straight for the inn as it was getting late now as the sky darkened... either that or it was going to rain again, lets hope not. i trotted down the road for about an hour and it was getting very dark now. i stopped when i noticed a familiar sight. it was an empty lot where the house burned down... a shiver ran down my back at the memories. and sure enough next to it was the inn.

i walked to the door of the inn and pushed it open. i walked inside and closed it behind me. the warmth of the fire warmed up my cold body. it was growing colder outside and i'm sure that winter isn't too far away. i looked around and not much seems to have changed. same usual ponies here and the bar mare was at the counter washing glasses. octavia wasn't here though... oh well, i'm sure she's at her home. i walked over to the bar and took a seat.

"holy crap!." said the barmaid as she caught sight of me. "i thought you were dead."

"me too." i said.

"how you doing..." she said. "you gonna survive?" she asked.

"more or less." i said shrugging. she just smiled and tapped me on the shoulder.

"thats the spirit... here let me get you something good, on the house." she said going into the back.

"thanks..." i said. i waited for a little bit before she came back out with a medium sized bottle of gin. she passed it over to me. i grabbed it and she smiled and gave me a little wink. i tipped my hat and took a swig of the gin. it really hit the spot. i took another swig and i heard the doors to the bar swing open. i looked over to see octavia with a large cello case with her. i was about to speak up when i noticed somepony else walk in.

it was that one stallion from a while ago. he was still wearing the large suit of bone armor. thunder rush was his name, i think. they were smiling and chatting. i thought that they were just being friendly but then octavia reached over and gave him a big kiss on the lips, and he did the same. i could hear my heart crack a bit. i took another swig of gin to help keep my feelings down. i was both jealous and minorly heartbroken. i had really liked her after all... she's the only pony i really know.

they both held the kiss for a while before breaking it up. they both smiled and octavia and thunder rush started walking over. when they turned their gaze octavia noticed me and smiled. she trotted over with her big cello case and thunder rush slowly followed after. she finally got to me and set her cello down after sitting on the stool next to mine.

"hey..." she said. "you're alright."

"did you think i wasn't." i said with a smile trying to hide my broken heart.

"well you were pretty beat up... and i can see that you're not exactly in perfect condition still." she said.

"i'll be fine in a day or two." i said. i looked past her to see thunder rush walk up next to us. "glad to see you're back." i said.

"good to be back..." he said. "i heard about what you did at the market and then that night at the house next door... that's pretty brave, and you pull off that outfit well, i knew you would."

"thanks... it was a nice gift." i said. I took another swig of gin and just smiled at Octavia and thunder rush. They smiled back.

" so you heard about me huh?" I said to thunder rush.

" yeah... The head of the crimson order has his eye on you too... " said thunder rush. " hell if crimson were alive I'm sure he'd be looking for you as well."

" you know that's not the first time I've heard that." I said. Thunder just chuckled to himself.

" I'm sure it's not." He said.

" I have to start getting ready to play." Said Octavia getting up and grabbing her cello.

" alright... I'll be listening." Said thunder. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked to her usual spot and started setting up. I watched for a few minutes while thunder ordered some food and a drink. I turned my attention back to him now.

" so how long you been with her?" I asked.

" not long." He said taking a swig from his beer while waiting for his food. " I met her at a party in canterlot. I was invited there by the princess to attend. When I got there I saw her playing the cello and I thought it was a funny coincidence and she did too... So we stayed together at the party and well, it all went on from there."

" sounds like it was a lot of fun." I said.

" more or less... The canterlot gig really gave her a boost of confidence."

" we'll that's good for her... It's just what she needs." I said taking another drink of gin. I was almost out and I could feel it getting to me now. Thunder took a drink too.

" you know my friend twilight said she had an interesting encounter with you today." Said thunder. Hearing the tame twilight caused me to take another drink.

" let me guess... She told you everything." I said.

" just about... And I think I can help get your memory back... If you're willing to let me try." He said. The idea struck me as a fake but as I thought about it I started to warm up to the idea. It would be great to know who I was and what I'm doing here.

" alright." I said. I'm not sure if I said it or if it was the gin. But either way I was enthusiastic to find out.

" we will have to go on a bit of a journey and it might get dangerous." He said. " and it might take us awhile to get to where we need to go."

" I don't care..." I said.

" great." He said. " then starting tomorrow we begin. Just meet me down here when you get up and we'll set out and gather some of my other friends."

" other friends?" I asked curiously.

" three others... Twilight sparkle, black hoof, and my partner red wing." He said. By the time we were done talking Octavia had finished her song and set her cello down for the night. She walked over and sat on thunders lap. " all done." He said.

" yeah... So did he say yes." She asked. She was in on the plan.

" yeah we leave tomorrow." Said thunder.

" alright I'll wait for you." She said giving him another kiss. " but it's late... We should get some sleep." She said. Thunder just smiled and they both got up and left.

" I'll see you tomorrow." He said. " oh... And take it easy with the gin." He said before disappearing upstairs. I let out a deep groggy sigh and went back to the counter. I finished off the gin and the bar mare walked over.

" so how's it going sugar..." She said. " saved your room for you... You would have owed a fortune but thunder pain for it." She said.

" who the hell is that guy." I asked.

" probably the most interesting stallion you'll ever meet." She said. " the guys completely loaded but stays at inns all the time... Usually this one. And get this... He was the best friend of crimson blast." She said.

" was he really." I said.

" yep... When crimson went on his two year mission and came back an idol and a god thunder had left for the entire time he was gone... Just left, no letter, no warning and no trace... He was just gone." She said.

" when did he come back." I asked.

" not too soon after crimson did. The guy came back with some shady looking pony with knives strapped to every inch on his armor. He laid low for a while but a few days after crimson died he single hoofedly overthrew almost all crime within pony vile and the surrounding area."

" so he's famous or something." I said.

" pretty much... He's one of equestrian most renowned adventurers and was crowned the title of hero by the princess..." She said.

" hero huh... Either I'm the luckiest bastard in Equestria... Or he's looking for something."

" or he's just trying to help." Said the bar mare. She left the counter and left me to my thoughts. I sat at the bar for a few more minutes while some ponies either left or went to their rooms. I did the same as them. I walked over and up the stairs. I walked down the hall and found my room. I tried the knob but it was locked.

I patted myself down in search of the key and found it in my back pocket. I pulled it put and unlocked the door. The door creaked open and I walked into the dark and dusty room. I flicked on the lights and the room filled with light. It was just the way I left it. Nothing in here but my bags on the floor.

I walked into the room and closed the door behind me. I started unfastening the straps of my armor. I undid the straps and my armor loosened up. I took off my duster and hung threw it on the dresser. I pulled off my leather armor and let it fall to the ground. Then I took my hat off and placed it on top of the duster laying on the dresser.

I flicked the lights off to sleep and shambled through the darkness to find the bed. After bumping into a few things I finally tripped over the bed and fell in it. I crawled around and shuffled under the covers. I pulled them up to my waist and laid on my side staring into the darkness.

It was quiet... Horrifyingly quiet. no noise at all, and no light helped the mood of desperation and loneliness set in. i quietly shut my eyes and lazily drifted off to sleep. as i drifted off to sleep i couldn't help but feel excited... but afraid at the same time. i'm not sure what to feel or who i was... but i'm glad i can find that all out tomorrow.

****... hopefully


	4. Chapter 4: Face Of Evil

i slowly opened my eyes to the quiet clanging of glasses and mumbling of voices coming from below. i got up and rubbed my head while looking around. i set my eyes on the clock which read '7:24'. it wasn't too late so i didn't keep thunder rush. i got up and got changed into my gear. i grabbed my money and tomahawk and set opened the door to the hallway. i walked down the long narrow hallway and the down the stairs to the bar.

i looked around and sure enough i saw thunder rush sitting at the counter eating a piece of apple pie. i smiled and walked over. i sat down next to him and me and the bar mare exchanged glances. she went off into the back to get me something for breakfast. i looked over to thunder rush and he smiled at me.

"you ready?" he asked.

"yeah... just let me fill up then we're good." i said.

"alright then." he said. the bar mare walked over and placed a hot chocolate chip muffin in front of me. i ate the muffin along with a cheap beer to wash it down with. after that i paid the bar mare for the beer and me and thunder set out. we left the inn and i followed him down the street. we passed the empty lot of the burnt down house and once again a shiver ran down my back.

"so you said we had to get some of you're friends." i said as we walked along through the market streets and soon past the park.

"yeah... but they're already at twilight's house." he said. "so we'll stop there, grab 'em and go."

"alrighty then." i said. i followed close behind as we cut corners and made twists and turns. soon we were in a more open street. i kept behind him when suddenly he made a left turn and started walking up a path leading to a... tree?... no, this wasn't just a tree, it was a house. it was a house carved into a huge tree. that's pretty cool if you ask me. we walked up and thunder knocked on the door. the door swung open to reveal a familiar purple figure.

"ah... about time you got here." she said. "come on in... were almost ready."

"morning twilight." thunder said walking in. i walked in behind him and as i passed twilight i smiled and tipped my hat to her, despite our last encounter. we all walked in and there were two other ponies here. they were both pegasus ponies and they both had the same long black hair as me.

one of them had a red coat hiding under dark black leather armor and a cowl. his armor was riddled with small knives and larger ones near his belt. i think i remember hearing about this guy. the other one had a silvery coat with tight leather armor he had a bow at his side and a quiver of arrows.

"so is everypony ready." asked thunder. all of them replied with a "yes". i replied quickly after with the same. "good." he said closing the door behind him. i heard a faint click come from the door. "twilight you know what to do." he said.

"know what?" i asked. before anypony could answer i felt something slither around my hooves. i thought it was a snake and jumped a bit. i tried moving forward but something had my hooves glued to the ground. i could feel something tightly wrapping around them and pull them together. i looked down to see a rope had tied itself around my hoove. it pulled me up and soon i was hanging upside down by my hooves.

"gotcha..." said twilight.

"what the fuck..." i yelled. "you ponies are crazy let me go."

"nice try scar..." said thunder. "you made a big mistake thinking you could ravage this ponyville."

"who the fuck is scar?" i asked with anger. the other two ponies got up and they all circled around me. the red pony walked over and started taking the gear off my body. i shook and tried to get free but the rope was tight. he took off all my gear... except my tomahawk which was concealed inside my duster. soon all i had was the tomahawk and my clothes. the red pony handed my money pouch over to the other pegasus who opened it up and looked inside.

"yeah... this is just about the same amount that was stolen from the apalooza bank." he said. he tossed the bag aside and they all glared at me.

"i didn't rob a bank... i can't even remember who the fuck i am." i said.

"that memory loss card isn't going to work anymore... you're one of equestria's most wanted criminals... it was hard enough coming up with this plan" said thunder rush. "it was even harder playing nice with you."

"all of this was a plan?" i yelled.

"from the second i saw you i knew who you were." said thunder rush. "i should have let that drunk pony back there choke you to death... but i didn't know then..."

" so the next day he told me and we came up with a plan to win you're trust and lure you here." said twilight... i couldn't believe what i was hearing. "he left me to look after you and make sure you didn't do anything dangerous while he went and informed the princess."

"and just to my like you decided to fall into a coma until i came back." said thunder rush.

"what the hell... how can i be so bad if i've helped those other ponies." i said. "and you told me yourself that you saved my life from that fire." i said looking at twilight. "and the leader of the crimson order was asking me to join."

"... i put the fire out... i never knew you were in there and i didn't pull you out of the rabbage and drag you to the hospital." she said.

"and helping a few locals doesn't make you a saint." said the silver and black pony. " it's an easy cover up to get paid to kill a few thugs."

"and i talked to the leader of the crimson order... he actually shared the same plan as we did... though i guess we got you first."

"face it scar... it's over." said the other pegasus.

"i'm not lying... i can't remember anything." i said. i started thrashing about trying to get the ropes lose.

"memory or no memory that doesn't excuse you from what you did..." said twilight. " the royal guards will be here soon to take you to the canterlot dungeon where you'll be staying before they hang you for you're crimes." i thrashed around some more. i'm surprised my hat hadn't fallen off of my head.

"you can't just hang me..." i shouted. "what did i even do?"

"what haven't you done." said the silver and black pony.

"murder, theft, arson, rape, and nameless other crimes." said the red pegasus.

"damnit..." i yelled struggling even more now. "let me go... "

"jeez..." said twilight. "your persistent aren't you?" i was about to yell again to set me free but i was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Royal guard." said a strong voice at the door.

"ah just about time." said twilight. i was thrashing even more. "in here." she yelled out to the guard. she used her magic to unlock the door and open it. the door opened and two large unicorns with large spears and golden armor walked into the room. they kept their gaze only on me.

"scar... by official rule of the princess you are under arrest for numerous and unspeakable crimes against equestria... you're ultimate sentence is death by hanging..." he said as he used his magic to keep me lifted in the air and undo the ropes. when the rope was gone i struggled to run but his magic was holding me in place. he levitated me down and cuffed my front hooves and my wings as well.

he released his grip and they escorted me out. i admitted defeat and kept my head down hiding my face under the brim of my hat. even though i was accepting my defeat i grit my teeth in anger. i felt cheated, i might have been this scar guy but i felt innocent. i didn't feel like i could do any of those things they said. but i can remember a moral code i used to live by. i'm not sure but the phrase was burnt into my head and i couldn't help but repeat it over and over again.

"go out swinging... go out swinging." i said over and over to myself as the two guards walked me over to a chariot. they walked me up to the stand which had clamps fastened to the bottom. they positioned me in the chariot and clamped my front hooves down. i looked around and saw that a few ponies were watching. some watched emotionlessly and other smiled like they had gotten revenge. they were happy to see me get what i had coming to me. i couldn't help but glare at them with hatred and anger.

the chariot lifted off and we were airborne now. i kept my head down the whole time as we passed the cloud layer and flew high in the sky. we were flying towards a large castle resting on the mountain. as we grew closer i could see the castle was also surrounded by a large city. this must be that canterlot place i heard about. i don't know why... but i hated the place already. i guess now that i've been told who i am my old personality was starting to shine through.

i kept my head down the whole time contemplating and trying my best to remember or at least figure a way out of this. there has to be a way... there's no way i can die like this. there must be something... there's almost always a way. i kept thinking and thinking and soon enough we were right above canterlot. the chariot started sinking and i looked down to see six guards in two lines of three awaiting the chariot to land. when the chariot did land two guards walked over and undid my clamps... but i still had the hoofcuffs on. they picked me up and started walking me. soon i was being escorted by the train of guards.

i looked around and there were canterlot ponies that looked at me with disgust and indifference. they obviously had no care for the likes of somepony like me. all of them acted stuck up and snobby... it made me furious, i can't tell why but i hated them. as we walked by i looked around and my eye caught something i should have seen a long time ago.

it was a wanted poster... and like you guessed, it was featuring yours truly. it said i was wanted dead or alive... just kind of glad i got caught alive. it said there was a reward if i got caught alive... 5 million bits! holy shit i must be one bad pony. there was a picture of me. i was facing forward with my hat on covering my eyes. i had a devilish and troublemaking smirk showing on one side of my face. i even had a toothpick in my teeth. soon the picture was blocked by the heads of ponies who watched me being escorted.

when i finally looked forward i was that we were in front of the huge golden white palace. the huge golden gates lurked open through magic and we walked through. we passed through the gates and started marching through the courtyard. and soon enough we reached the main steps. we walked up them and into an open area. there were a few doors that lead other places but we started walking up the huge staircase. we got to the top and i could see a pair of huge, decorated golden doors. they swung open at the aid of magic.

we walked through them and into what i had to guess was the throne room. we walked forward and i could see some of the windows were stained with pictures of a few things... i didn't care to bother with them. we passed several huge pillars until we came to a stop. i looked forward to see but there were four guards blocking my view.

"princess." said one of the guards. "we have brought you the infamous scar." the four guards in front of me moved and i could see. the moved to the side and bowed... except me. i could see the princess. she was pure white with golden jewelry and flowing hair and tail. her mane was a combination of pink blue and green and it seemed to flow in some non existent wind. she had purple eyes and she was an alicorn. but it was just the princess... no king or queen... i guess they must have died... or something, i don't care.

"thank you..." she said walking down the steps of the throne and reaching the bottom level. she was huge... at least half my size taller. she looked down at me with a glare of disappointment and pity. i looked back at her with rage and loathing. "scar... you have committed numerous atrocities for years, unpunished... you will be hang for you're crimes at the week's end... do you have any last words." she said. i didn't say anything, i just glared at her harder. "so be it... take him to the dungeon."

"yes princess." said one guard. they resumed formation and he pushed me to move forward. "move it." he shouted at me. i walked with them and i watched as the princess walked back up to her throne before my vision was cut off by a wall. we just passed under a doorway and we were walking down a hall now. we moved forward and walked down the hall making a left turn at the end. we kept going until we reached a dead stop at the end of the hall. there was a large wooden and metal door. there were two guards beside it. they used their magic to pull a huge iron bar up and open the doors.

the doors creaked open and revealed a large dark staircase with a few torches every now and then to light the way. i was shoved again and pushed ahead of the guards. i looked down at the staircase and i could see the bottom it was quite a ways down. i walked forward and took the first step.

"got one coming down." a guard yelled from behind me to two guards at the bottom of the stairs. i was about to take another step when i felt a shove from behind that threw me off balance... oh fuck. and without delay i began to fall down the stairs. i let out grunts of pain every time i hit a stair. i let out a yell of pain whenever i was sure something cracked or broke in my body. finally i hit the bottom of the stairs head first and toppled over onto my back. i heard the guards laughing. i groaned and opened my eyes. i sat up and noticed my hat fell of my head. it was laying beside me.

i reached over and picked it up. i placed it on my head and slowly got back up. i let out another groan and stretched out my back to work out some of the pain. i was certain that i hadn't gone through that completely unscathed but i don't think it did any major damage... i could feel a bit of blood trickling down the side of my head. other than that it was probably just a few cracks and strains... possibly a few pulled muscles here and there... and i'm sure one of my ribs was broken, but that will heal... maybe.

"alright get going." one guard said to me as he shoved me. i lunged forward and almost fell over but i caught myself. i shambled down the hall because my whole body was sore and i'm definitely sure i had pulled a few muscles in certain places. i kept walking and as we started passing cells the other prisoners looked at me and smiled. it was the kind of smile like they had hope... like i would set them free... poor bastards. if anypony is getting out of here, its me.

"STOP." the guard behind me yelled. i came to a halt and he walked over to the cell to my right. he grabbed a key ring from his belt and shuffled through the keys. he stopped at one key and unlocked the cell door with it. he grabbed me and literally threw me into the cell. i fell down and rolled onto my back. "welcome to the canterlot dungeon scum... this will be you're place of suffering before we ring you're neck and you burn in hell..." he said.

he walked over and kicked me onto my stomach. it wouldn't have been that bad if he hadn't kicked me in the head again after i was already on my stomach. he used his keys to unlock my cuffs and let my hooves free. he was stepping down hard on my back and putting pressure on my injured and possibly broken ribs causing me to grunt in pain. he took the hoofcuffs and stood up straight he stomped on my back one more time before leaving the cell. he shut it behind him and left. i rolled over onto my stomach and grit my teeth in pain... those fucking idiots.

they forgot to search me. that's a problem... for them. i grabbed one side of my duster and lifted it up. i looked in to see my tomahawk mantled neatly on the inside of the duster. it was screaming out for blood... i could almost hear it. i think though i might lay low and wait for my injuries to heal... give them a false sense of security... then go for the kill... but at the first sense of trouble i'm wiping it out and slashing. i'm going to escape this place... i'm going to run. but i'm going to have to do it carefully. i need to plan it out.

i laid in my cell still in pain but they were fading in waves. i looked around my cell and took in the surroundings. there was a small window. or a hole in the wall covered in iron bars. there was a set of bunk beds which were two iron platforms bolted to the wall with home hay on them, some crappy pillows, and a thin sheet for a blanket. there was also a toilet and a sink with a dirty mirror above it.

i slowly rolled over and grunted in pain. i stood up but my legs were shaky and sore everywhere. i couldn't fully stand because of a few pulled muscles near my thigh and shoulders that were killing me. i slowly shambled over to the bottom bed and crawled in it. i rolled over and laid on my back. i stared at the metal board of the other bed when i heard a click closeby. i looked over to see two guards unlocking my door. they walked in and looked at me with disgust.

"warden says he wants you in a thicker cell." said one guard." lets go." he said. i tried shambling to my hooves but before i could the guard grabbed me and pulled me onto my hooves. i managed to stay up and they started escorting me down the hall. i walked and i watched as we delved deeper and deeper into the dungeon.

"halt." one guard said. i stopped in my tracks and watched one guard walk over to my left. there was a huge door with a Z lock. there was a hole in the middle. the guard pointed his horn at the hole and stuck it in. the door glowed faintly and the huge bars preventing the door from opening were pulled out and the door was unlock. he then used his magic to pull the large metal door open. it slid open and the other guard pushed me in. i stumbled in and caught myself again.

i looked back and the huge metal door slid closed. it shut with a loud crash and was followed by a few clangs and crashes as locks on both sides of the door slid into place and locked the door shut. there was a key hole on this side too. it doesn't matter though, i'd have to be a guard to open that door up, not to mention i'd have to be a freaking unicorn too.

i looked around and took in my new surroundings. this room was depressingly darker than the previous cell. the only light was coming from sunlight shining through a small barred window. though it was dark there was still enough light for me to see. i looked around some more and instead of bunk beds there were two separate beds with wooden frames bolted to the floor and straw bedding along with the same crappy pillows and thin sheets. i noticed one of the beds had a bulge in it... i have a cellmate.

i noticed he was sleeping and just slowly walked over to the other bed. i crawled into the bed and laid on the straw and the sheet. i laid on my back and rested my head on my hooves. i pulled my hat over my eyes and tried to get this day over with. i closed my eyes and tried to think about how i could escape this place. staying here for a few more days will probably help me get a better layout of this place and help me escape... so i should start looking around.

i think that when i get out of here there's a certain purple unicorn that i'd like to pay a visit to. i don't know where those other two live and i'm certain that thunder rush would kill me with ease. until then... i'll wait. i'll keep low and stay in the shadows until the time is right. nopony is going to kill me. i'm going to escape and cleave a path of chaos and destruction on my way out.

i'm going to go out swinging.


	5. Chapter 5: And The King Will Rise

" WAKE UP SCUM..."yelled a strong voice from outside. even with this thick door i could hear him well. "TIME TO EAT." he yelled as the doors to the cell churned and clanged and swung open. a guard walked in and past him i could see other convicts walking down the hall.

"get up you fuck." said the guard. "breakfast." i got up and he pulled me out into the hall. i started walking with him and the other convicts into a large cafeteria. my favorite meal of the day... breakfast... woo fucking hoo. i walked over and got in line with the other thugs and brutes. most of them were still wearing their leather and stuff so i wasn't the only one. the line moved forward and i grabbed a tray. when it was my turn the chef just looked at me gloomily and slapped a pile of grey slop onto the tray. prison chef probably isn't the most glamorous job.

i walked out of line with my food and took a lone seat by myself. i set the tray down and sat down myself. i was feeling much better and i think i worked out the kinks in my legs and stuff... but my chest is still sore and it hurts to put pressure on it. i looked down at the grey mess on my tray and i swear i saw it move. i shrugged and brought my face down to take a bite after i took off my hat and placed it down on the table. i took a bite of the gruel. i chewed it and swallowed... it wasn't as bad as i expected it to be... but it's still pretty bad. i think i'll be able to force this down my throat three times a day until i escape. i went to take another bite when i felt something push on the back of my head and shove my face into the food.

"look at yippie kai cowboy over here." said a large sounding pony behind me. i lifted my face from the food and i could feel a spark of incredible rage spike in me. the whole cafeteria was silent. i brought my head up and wiped the food off my face with a napkin i grabbed. i got up and grabbed my hat. i put it on my head and i turned behind me to see one large muscular stallion sitting behind me laughing. his laughter was the only thing filling the air in this cafeteria everything else was silent. i looked to see all the other convicts looking over and watching like they expected a show.

"dude... do you know who that was." said one of his friends across the table shifting his eyes from me to his buddy. i took a few steps closer.

"yeah... some weak ass punk who probably tried to rob a bank and tripped over his own hooves." he said laughing at his own jokes. i took a few more steps closer until i was behind him.

"no... that was scar." said another of his friends. the stallion stopped laughing and the mood became more serious. i stood behind him and watched his happiness drain out of him slowly.

"you guys are pulling my leg... scar is uncatchable." he said.

"was..." i said. suddenly all the happiness fell from the stallion. before he did anything else i wrapped my hooves around his head and twisted his head. the cafeteria rippled with the sound of his neck snapping and breaking. he was dead now... and i don't regret it too much. "i was uncatchable." i said. i let go of his head and he fell forward smashing his face into his own tray of grey slop.

i turned around and went back to my food. and so did the rest of the cafeteria. the air soon filled with the chatter of ponies and guards. it was like nothing had happened. not even the guards mere feet away did anything to stop it. never knew a place this cruel and unforgiving could exist under the capital of equestria. i ate the rest of my food and soon breakfast was over. we returned to our cells and i was thrown back in mine. however i no longer had a roommate... or the same cell.

they placed me in a less heavy cell with no other convicts. the guard said something about the warding wanting me to be visible at all times. so they stuck me in a large cell with two thick iron bar doors and a gridded window which was slightly larger than the others. i liked this cell better. the beds were the same as the last cell i was in and it had a toilet and sink with mirror. it was like the best of both cells... so to speak.

i sat in my cell and planned my escape when the guards had called us for recess. they gathered us all in a large room. i looked up and noticed that this was an open area with a clear path to the sky... the other prisoners call this the pit. its a hole in the slope of the mountain that opens up into freedom. some say they put it here to torment us with delerious grangures of hope and freedom. to me it looked that way... but it also looked like a method of escape. at least it did until i saw the faint glow of a shield covering the top. now it was just a delusion of hope and freedom. it would have been easier to fly away too if they hadn't left my wings cuffed like the other pegasi. all the unicorns had small rings cuffed around their horns which i figured stopped their magic.

i decided that if i am going to get out of this place i'll need to be strong. so i walked over to the gym area with dumbbells and bench presses. it wasn't a problem to get an open station when i'm the most notorious villain in equestria. i also got two ponies to put more weight on the bar when i needed it. so that's what i did for the two hour recess. i learned that i'm already surprisingly strong. i could bench press 180 pounds with ease. i did bench presses dumbbells pull-ups, and leg lifts. it was a good workout and i got some exercise.

on the way back i started looking around the halls of the prison looking for something i could use to escape, or someway out. i kept looking until i noticed an open door. i didn't see much inside before it closed but there was a sign outside that said "guards quarters."... that could be useful. i got back to my cell and continued my workout by doing push ups and sit ups for the rest of the day. when i got thirsty i just got water from the sink and went on. while i was working out i thought about what i could use the guards quarters for.

granted there aren't any guards in there by chance i could take some weapons... possibly a suit of armour and pass off as a guard. but they'd single me out from the scar across my face, even with the helmet... besides where would i put my clothes. i kept thinking as hard as i could until night came around and i rested up for the day.

i woke up the next day and continued my schedule. i had breakfast alone, worked out at recess then trained in my cell when none of the guards were watching. i practiced swinging my tomahawk without actually pulling it out. then when it got dark i slept. this went on for the next five days... before it was time. today was sunday and i was sentenced to hang at high noon... it was roughly around eight. i had trained for combat the entire time and i've been almost everywhere in this prison and yet i couldn't think of a way out.

i paced around my cell nervously trying to figure a way out. i had grown since last time and i was far more stronger and muscular than before. my routine really worked, but it won't be any good if i can't get out. i paced around the room nervously trying as hard as i could to think.

"think dammit think." i said hitting my own forehead trying to jog up some ideas... how do i get out of this shit hole. every possibility i ran through my head ended up with a bad end. there were too many guards and not enough exits. the the only exits i know of are the front door, and the the pit. but the pit is shielded and the front door is barred from the other side with a thick bar of iron. plus it leads into the castle which is dangerous territory. and going out for the execution was a no go since i was more than likely going to be bound.

as i paced around and the options running through my head continued to fail, i got mad. i was so close, i was ready... but there's no way out, it's not fair. i let out a deep shout of frustration and threw my hat at the wall. it hit the wall hard and fell to the floor. the metal skull buckled broke off and clanged against the stone floor until it stopped in the middle of the floor. i let out a deep sigh and let my anger drain out of me. i walked over to the skull buckle and picked it up. i looked at it and held it in my hoof.

i looked it over and i noticed something. i turned it to the side and there was a slit running down the left side to teeth at the bottom... what the fuck? i looked over it and flipped it around to look at the back. there was nothing special in the back... except. there was a small indent in the middle of the back. like somepony carved a perfect circle in it. i brought my hoof over the indent... "this can't be what i think it might be" i thought with some hope returning to me. i pressed my hoof on the indent and a stick of metal whisked out of the side startling me.

i looked at it and it wasn't just a stick of metal but it was a key... this is a freaking skeleton key... wait, how do i know that term. well it's a skull key so you know, skull... skeleton. and the term skeleton key is general enough for me to know what it is. this will help big time. with this new sense of hope a fresh new idea washed into my brain. it seemed perfect... but there was no end, i couldn't get past one part of it... but i'll deal with it when i get there.

i closed the key and picked up my hat. i fitted the skull back onto the hat and placed it on my head. and now i sit and wait. and so i did. i sat there and waited for the guards to come and fetch me for the execution. until then i ran over numerous strategies and plans for hiding if the guards should see me. the only thing i should really be afraid of are the unicorns... though there aren't as many as the other guards their magic can be a real problem... so i'll have to either sneak up on them or avoid them. i kept thinking and thinking until two guards came up to the cell door. i stood up and glared at them.

"todays the day scar." said one of the guards excitedly as the other smiled and opened the two barred doors. they opened the second one and walked in. i slid my hoof back and pulled it up into my duster so they wouldn't notice. i reached up and quietly unfastened my tomahawk. they grew closer and i gripped the weapon tightly.

"lets go..." said the other guard. "time to die." he said. i smiled... i couldn't agree more.

in a flash of speed and strength i lashed the tomahawk out as the first guard and it cut clean through his helmet and burrowed deep in his skull. blood splattered over me and the other guard. the first guards eyes started rolling back into his head and i pulled the axe from his skull. he quickly fell over onto the ground dead. i looked over to the other guard who was looking at me with the utmost fear in his eyes.

"celestia save me..." he said... too late. i slashed the axe out and cut clean through the first half of his neck. with his vocal chords slashed there was no hope of him yelling out for help. he brought his hoof to his violently bleeding neck and stood there turning more and more pale with every second. eventually he too fell over dead. i quickly grabbed the buckle off my hat and pushed the key out. i reached back to my wings and undid the restraints. they fell to the floor and i stretched my wings... now the fun begins.

i ran out of the cell and checked both ends of the hallway... no guards, good. i moved down the hall and stopped when a better idea ran through my head. i ran over to the other cells when the prisoners saw me they roared out in a loud cheer. i quickly ran from cell to cell and started undoing the cages and setting them free.

soon the halls were filled with cries of victory and escaped convicts. they ran through the halls and it wasn't long until the guards caught wind. they tried to suppress the prisoners but there was no hope. they were quickly overthrown and most likely killed. i had no idea what kind of effect this would have on canterlot but frankly i don't give a shit. i kept running through the halls and soon i came across the guards quarters.

i tried the door but it was locked... not a problem. i unlocked the door and put the skull back on my hat. i opened up the door and walked inside. there were three guards. one was sitting in a chair and the other two were looking right at me... none of them with weapons. i quickly rushed up behind the pony looking away.

"look out." said one of the other guards. too late. i ran over and slit the ponies throat. he bled out and died. i looked up and quickly noticed that the stallion on the left was a unicorn... that's not good. the other guard went for a spear. i did the first thing i could think to do and threw the tomahawk at the guard. it whirled through the air and cleaved him right in the middle of the face... either i'm really lucky or i'm actually that good.

the second guard let out a cry and charged me with a spear. out of instinct i dodged the spear and it went past me. i grabbed it and pulled it forward yanking it out of the guards hooves. it twirled it around until the point was aimed at the guard. i let out a cry of anger and stuck the spear right through his chest. he was washed over with the pain and shock of death. he stumbled back a bit before he fell over dead. i smiled.

i looked around the room and there wasn't much. just beds and a few tables. there was a map of the prison hanging up. i ran over and analyzed it. there wasn't much hope for escape when i saw a tunnel that a river cuts through here. it's heavily guarded and leads to the other half of the prison. i'm pretty sure that the other convicts are freeing the rest of the prisoners and uncuffing themselves with some keys they got off a dead guard. i turned and i was about to leave when i noticed a chest. it had a sign over it "prisoner confiscations."... wonderful.

i rushed over and opened it up looking for useful supplies. and there were many goodies hiding in this chest. i loaded myself up with throwing knives, a good sword, regular daggers, basic necessities (flint and tinder, rope, and medicine). i put the flint and medicine in a pouch and kept the rope by my side. i looked through some more and there wasn't much left. but after a bit of digging i found a really awesome bow. it was ornate and it had doubled limbs for extra power and a tough string. i looked around and noticed a leather quiver full of arrows that the guards use... marvelous.

i took the gear and kept it close should i need it. i kicked open the door and rejoined the chaos and anarchy outside. looks like this part of the prison was cleared. there were a few ponies still lingering around that cheered when they saw me. i tipped my hat to them and smiled. i also noticed that cells i didn't unlock there now open... like i guessed. i ignored the rest and ran for the cafeteria. from there i will go to the pit and then to the river.

i ran through the halls passing convicts and thugs every now and then. i also passed by body after body most of them being guards but there were numerous convicts dead too. some of the guards that weren't killed were being... well... it probably would have been better if they were killed. i kept running and i got through to the cafeteria. i looked around and there were many convicts here. they had scavenged gear and weapons from guards and they had overrun the kitchen. they were taking and distributing all the good food they would serve the guards. when one pony noticed me he spread it on to others and soon all eyes were on me.

"scar scar scar." the ponies would yell and chant. i smiled and tipped my hat. it was a bit weird hanging around bandits and convicts but i could get used to this way of life. it was exciting and fun as well. i didn't care much for this town or its ponies, and i sure as hell can't stay in equestria anymore... i'll have to leave and make another title someplace else. but i'll be sure to carve a trail as i'm leaving.

i ran through the cafeteria and through some more halls. soon i was blinded by the sunlight of the day and i was out in the pit. i looked up to see pegasus ponies were trying to get out through the shield but it wasn't working. they had unicorns on there too. they were working together to get out. the unicorns were blasting away at the shield. that might work but it would take too long. when the convicts saw me they started chanting like in the cafeteria. i tipped my hat and left to the other door. there was a large crowd gathered around that door... probably half of the ponies in this jail.

i slowed down and walked over. as the crowd started to notice me they began parting ways and cheering my name. i must be like their king or something. to be honest i was letting all of this get to my head. it wasn't long until i got to the large door i looked at it. it was one of those locks you need magic to open... like the cell doors. but much...much larger.

"they locked it and shut us out of the other half..." said a random pony.

"you can get through it can't you scar." said another pony.

"yeah... scar." said a third. they all began the chant my name again. hmm... i wonder.

i reached up to my hat and pulled off the skull key. i flipped out the key and brought it close to the door. i stuck the key into the hole and the air inside the hole glowed and shimmered. the door glowed faintly and lit up. the pit came to life with the sounds of scraping and crashing metal. the bars locking the door shifted out of place and unlocked the door. mechanisms in the wall whirred to life and the door opened up revealing a small battalion of guards that had set up frontier behind the door. they all stared in shock.

"knock knock." i said with a smile. the prisoners burst out in a war cry and rushed past me. they ran by me on all sides and overthrew the guard outpost. the air filled with sounds of battle. i let out a deep sigh and decided to join in the fun. i leaned back and shot myself forward with great speed and power. i ran down the hall shooting past convicts and slashing my tomahawk at any guards i passed. i soon came up on a 3 way intersection and thought back to the map. i looked back and i could see the map. i got to the intersection and made a left.

i turned the corner to see three guards clogging the hall with their spears jetting out at their sides. i ran up to them and before i got too close i dove down to the ground and slid past them back hooves first. i slashed the legs of the guard on the right and he fell crying in pain. i quickly sweeped the legs of the third guard and stood up just in time to parry off an attack from the third guard.

he stabbed his spear at me but i hit it away with the tomahawk. from there i pushed my hoof forward and stuck him in the neck. i looked back at the second guard who i tripped. he was laying there watching in horror. i pulled the tomahawk from the third guards neck and immediately brought it down on the face of the second guard... i freaking love this tomahawk. i spun the axe in my hand and put it on my belt. i kept running down the hall. i pulled out my bow and readied an arrow on it.

i aimed and took out one of the guards down the hall. i took out as many guards as i could with the bow. since i was using my wings to fire the bow that left me free to use the tomahawk to dispose of any guards that i couldn't snag first. this was almost too easy. i kept running down the hall and i saw the huge iron doors to the river. i ran forward and pushed the doors open with ease. they flung open and i stared in a the room.

it wasn't just a tunnel with a river... it was a huge cave with a giant river cutting through it. i looked over and saw there were docks where they had air ships docked... that's my ticket out of here. but there was practically an army stationed at the river. the guards soon caught me and i was fired at with arrows. i quickly moved aside and pulled one of the iron door over as a shield. i looked back in the long hall to the the other convicts rampaging down the hall roaring as they ran.

it wasn't long before they rushed by me and ran out into the open field. i blended in with the crowd and rushed the river with them. the archers had no trouble in making easy kills of the convicts and they started dropping by the seconds. but they weren't so fortunate when we reached the walls of the little wooden fort they had set up.

when we did reach the wooden gates, the river of convicts i had amassed just ran right through it using themselves as a battering ram. it was quite impressive. soon the fort was over run. i rushed through the gates and tried making my way to the ships. i took out archers and guards left and right with my bow and tomahawk. it's safe to say that i was now properly soaked with blood.

i kept going for the air ships along with other convicts who shared the same plan. i noticed that the rest of the convicts were beginning to burn the walls of the fort. i came up to the board walk and now we were on the docks. i went for the closest air shit. i ran as fast as i could but the board crossing over to the ship was clogged up by two guards. i ran at them and they drew their spears. they saw the carnage behind me and grew nervous and slightly retreated... big mistake. in their wake of fear i slipped past their spears and crouched down between them i shot myself up and pushed both of them into the river. i smiled and boarded the ship.

i ran up and there were guards on it. i started taking out any unicorns i could find to make sure they couldn't make an easy kill of me. i took out a few and some archers too. soon the ship was boarded by more convicts. they took out the rest of the guards. the ship got full and i kicked off the board to get on the ship. i ran over to the controls and the wheel. one of the convicts undid the fastening of the ship and we started to float on the river towards the mouth of the mountain.

it most likely drained out into a waterfall and i'm going to have to start this ship up if we don't want to plummet to death. there was a lever next to the wheel of the ship. i followed it's trail of wires and it lead to the furnace of the balloon. so the lever starts the ship. as we inched closer and closer to the mouth of the mountain i grabbed hold of the lever. i looked back to see other ships undocking and floating over.

it wasn't too long before we were right at the mouth of the mountain and the sounds of a roaring waterfall filled my ears. the front of the ship lurked over the side and i pulled down on the lever. the furnace sparked to life a fired a roaring inferno into the giant balloon. the ship jerked a bit and rocked and the ship left the river and was now floating in the air. the whole crew shouted out in victory and i just smiled... i did it... i got out.

the ship started sinking a bit but after a while it leveled out just above cloud layer. that's probably good that we keep low to the ground. i steered the ship and i had the perfect place in mind for our first stop... ponyville. time to pay my old friends a visit. i started thinking of some nasty things but i cleared those out of my mind. i was even thinking like a criminal. i don't mind being one however... but i won't be a ruthless criminal. won't kill mares or children, and i won't rape or murder. the only time i'll kill is if its guards, other bandits, or any stallion that tries attacking me.

"all bow to scar... king of the outlaws." yelled one pony.

"hail scar king of the outlaws." the others ranted and bowed to me. i just smiled. i looked beside the ship and saw the other bandits and convicts that got on ships were following my ship and cheering out at me. i smiled even more. i looked up at the sky and saw it was getting darker... good, i can slip in under the cover of night. and in my rush around the prison i managed to pick up a few of those horn rings the convicts had on. this should come in handy during my visit with miss sparkle.

i steered the ship towards ponyville and it had grown dark before we got there. the lights on this ship helped us to see but i looked down at ponyville. i saw twilight's tree house and let go of the wheel.

"somepony grab the wheel." i said walking away. one of the convicts rushed over and grabbed the wheel. i grabbed a length of rope and tied it to the end of the ship. i threw it down and it went close to the ground. i looked up at the other convicts. "my fellow villains." i said. "this is where i leave you... tell all the story of this day... the day they almost caught scar the bandit king." i said. i hopped back and grabbed hold of the rope. i slid down the rope quickly and over to the bottom. i let got and used my wings wo slowly drift to the ground. i looked up at the sky to see the ships drifting away. i smiled and tipped my hat

i made my way down the dark dimly lit road in the direction of twilight's house. i kept in the secrecy of the night only showing my face whenever i passed under a street lamp. i looked around at all the sleeping and quiet homes. the night was cold and dead silent. only the mellow chirp of crickets and buzzing of insects filled the air. i walked around until i spotted twilight's tree. i walked up the path and walked up to the door. i tried it at first and it was locked. i used my skull key to unlock the door and placed it back on my hat. i silently pushed the door open and closed it behind me. i looked around the dark house.

it was hard to see but i could find my way around. the light flickering through the open windows helps. almost every wall was covered in books. there was a rug a desk and a couch in the room. there was a staircase across the room and a kitchen door to the left. i walked around and thought of a plan. i took out my tomahawk and walked around. i looked over at the desk which had a small vase of flowers. i swung my tomahawk at the vase and it shattered filling the house with noise. i quickly ran over and hid in the kitchen. i waited silently while the room i was just in filled with light.

"hello..." said twilight's familiar voice. "who's down here." i could hear hoofsteps going down the stairs "ow..." twilight yelped. i could hear the shuffling of glass under her feet. she probably stepped on broken shards of the vase. "damnit... fluttershy made me that vase..." she let out a deep sigh. "whoevers in here show yourself." said twilight... c'mon twilight... take the bait.

i waited silently as i could hear hoofsteps growing closer and closer to the kitchen doorway. i smiled and quietly walked over to the counter and ducked behind it out of view. i peaked over to see twilight stick her purple head through the doorway. she seemed confused, nervous, and scared. i smiled and watched her. she slowly walked into the kitchen and went for the lights. i ducked back down so she wouldn't notice me. she flicked the lights and the room filled up with light.

"spike?..." she said... who the hell is spike. "spike is that you... i told you i don't mind if you grab a late night snack but if you broke fluttershy's vase it's alright... i'm not mad." she said. her talking helped me track where she was. by the end of her sentence she had passed me. time to go. i quietly peaked my head over to see that she wouldn't notice me. when i was in the clear i slowly slipped over the counter and quietly walked up to her.

"this is going to be fun." i said to myself evilly in my head.

"spike?" she said with confusion. she was at the end of the kitchen and i was right behind her now. i made my move and grabbed her. she let out a scream but it only lasted a second before i covered her mouth with my hoof and quickly slipped the horn ring over her head. i locked it and let her go. she stumbled forward. "who the hell are..." she stopped there when she turned and saw my smiling face.

"hello miss sparkle." i said holding my tomahawk and spinning it around in my hoof. "did you miss me." she took in a deep breath and she was probably going to scream but i stopped her. "that won't work miss sparkle." i said. "it won't matter if you scream or not... if you scream i'll have slit you're throat and flew off into the night before anypony actually heard it. and you're magic won't do you good with that ring on you're head" i said. " so what'll it be." i said shrugging.

"how did you get out of the dungeons." she said. i just chuckled.

"it was easy... you're beloved royal guards don't do a good job of checking their prisoners... it was almost too easy." i said laughing on the inside. "guards come to get me and bring me to hang, i kill the guards... open the cell doors... there's a lot of violence, killing, anarchy, all that good stuff... before you know it i let loose every convict in the dungeon and now i'm equestrias king of the outlaws."

"you're lying... you're just trying to make me scared." she said.

"no... this is true... oh yeah and we stormed the underground naval base and hijacked the flying ships... that happened too." i said.

"no... you're lying." she said.

"believe me or not... when were done with this little transaction of ours you can go to canterlot yourself and see." i said. "now where have you put my gear." i asked.

"like i would tell you." she said. i just rolled my eyes and grabbed the rope i kept. i had tied it into a lasso on the ship and i wanted to try it. i picked it up spun it a little and threw it at twilight who tried to run. it fell over her and i pulled it catching her hooves and she fell to the ground. i jumped on her and held her mouth down while i tied her up. i wrapped the rope around her snout to act as a muzzle and tied her up.

"poor miss twilight... you don't seem to get it." i said getting off of her as she grunted and groaned. "the night is young and i'll find my belongings with or without you're help." i said. she kept trying to get free and grunted to get lose. "that won't work... rope is pretty strong... trust me i know." i said in an angry voice right in her ear. the irony was quite satisfying and i left the kitchen and looked around. there was nothing in the first room so i walked up the stairs to another similar room. there was a doorway to the bathroom and a staircase leading to an uprising were her bedroom was.

i walked up to her bedroom and looked around i checked everywhere but didn't find anything. i looked under her bed and found a large chest. i pulled it out and opened it up with ease. inside was littered with items along with my gear... really miss sparkle, under the bed? i left some of my old stuff behind while i grabbed the other utilities and the bag of money. i looked through the chest some more.

there was a necklace with a small green glowing gem, i took that. and there was another pouch filled with money. i poured those into my bag and threw the sack away. i also grabbed some potions laying in there that were filled completely and labeled. i grabbed some other treasures and left the rest of the junk for her. i closed the chest and left it out. i walked down and looked for anything else i can acquire. while walking around i almost tripped over something. i looked down at it and saw it was some kind of sleeping basket. a dog would have barked me down a long time ago, she must have a cat or something.

i looked around and found another small strong box on a desk nearby. i walked over to it and it was locked... not a problem. i unlocked the box with the skull key and opened it up. there was more money and gems inside. there were also pre written spells on scrolls. and various other small potions with interesting properties. these scrolls are nice though, i could use these spells in the future. suddenly something jumped on my back and i let out a soft shout of surprise.

"i'll show you to steal our stuff." said a young male voice. whatever was on me was hitting the side of my head with his hooves or whatever. i quickly grabbed him and with ease chucked him across the room into the nearest bookshelf. he hit the bookshelf with a thud and then the floor causing books to pile on him. he got up dazed but alive. he was small, very small with claws, purple scales, and green spines running on top of his head down his back to his tail.

"what the... what the fuck are you?" i said confused as to what this thing was.

"i'm spike." he said shaking his head and regaining his posure.

"no but... WHAT are you." i said squinting to see if it would help.

"i'm a dragon... so watch out." he said. he's a dragon... that's... so funny. i couldn't help but laugh right in the little guys face.

"thats rich... that's gold." i said almost keeling over with laughter. "the twerp thinks he's a big scary dragon." i said laughing out loud.

"i am a dragon." he said.

"kid i don't care if you're the fucking king of dragons..." i said. "your a freaking runt." i said still slightly laughing. "look at you, you don't even have wings yet, no fangs, claws aren't sharp, and you're like a foot tall... what were you hoping to accomplish by pouncing on me... you were begging to get thrown into a bookshelf."

"well if twilight was here she would kick you ass." he said.

"ooh big language for a little dragon." i said. "and FYI twilight is home... she's just a little tied up at the moment."

"what did you do to twilight... i swear to if you hurt her i'll...i'll." he said at a loss for words.

"you'll WHAT." i said shouting at him causing him to fall back. i walked up and placed my hoof on his chest and held him down. he scrambled trying to get free and he started clawing at my hoof but his claws weren't sharp enough to even scratch my tough leather armor.

"what did you do with twilight." he said, i could see tears welling up in his eyes.

"jeez kid don't go crying about it." i said. "i told you she's tied up... in the kitchen." i said.

"please don't hurt her." he said with all bravery now having left his system only to be replaced by fear and sadness.

"relax kid." i said. "i'm not here to kill you mommy... i just came here for what's mine." i said backing up and lifting my hoof off his chest. he laid there gasping for breath... i might have stepped on him a little too hard, but oh well. i walked over to the window and ripped the curtain down. i walked over to the baby dragon and picked him up. he tried to fight but he was too tired to be a bother. i tied the curtain to his tail tightly and tied the other end to the curtain pole. he hung there upside down exhausted.

"what are you doing." he said.

"making sure you don't go running off to tell the neighbors or something stupid like that." i said. "if you can make it out of this then you get to do whatever you want... but i don't think that's going to happen soon." i said. i left him there to hang and he slowly drifted off to sleep. i walked away and went back downstairs. i walked into the main room and then into the kitchen. i saw that twilight had shimmied her way towards the entrance of the kitchen. she stopped and froze in place when she saw me.

i could tell by the look in her eyes that she was genuinely afraid now... good. she also had a few tears welling up under her eyes and they started to trail off. i looked down at her with a cold and unfeeling glare coupled with a wicked smile that could chill bones. to be honest it felt good being in this position of power. i reached down and grabbed the rope that was binding her.

"where do you think you were off to miss sparkle." i said. i picked her up and held her in front of my face. she started to scream out as much as she could but with that muzzle on her mouth only i was the only one who could hear them. though part of me would really like to hear her scream. "well miss sparkle." i said walking her back to the end of the kitchen. "it was a pleasure...remember to tell you're friends that today was the day that i... scar, king of the outlaws, burnt his mark of destruction onto equestria and got away." i said dropping her on the floor. "have a good night miss sparkle..." i said walking to the kitchen exit. "i won't be seeing you again." i said tipping my hat to her and shutting off the lights.

i shut off all the lights in the house and walked right out the front door. i walked down the path and into the street. i took a deep breath and looked up to the night sky. i let out the deep breath i took and shot up into the air. i flew up into the sky and out of ponyville. i followed the closest street leading out of ponyville and headed towards wherever it would take me. i'll be following this road to wherever it takes me. i hope that within time it would lead me to the edge of equestria.

now that i am THE most wanted criminal in all of equestria i'm going to have to lay low. i'd dye my hair and change my outfit, but that's too easy... no fun in it. i want to draw as much attention as i can to myself and cause as much havoc and chaos as i can on my way out. it's safe to say that i'll be leaving equestria in style. to say the least... i was excited. no wonder why i had chosen to be an outlaw... i'm too good at it. i'm back and i'd say that i'm better than ever.

ready or not equestria... here i come.

-Authors Note:...I TOLD YOU... I SO TOLD YOU... hahaha...you where expecting great things from a hero...well fuck you (just kidding). it only gets better from here (and by that i mean worse). welcome to the dark side bitch... take a seat and get comfy... we'll be here for a while. (and thus begins the new book)

-Stay Shady-


	6. Chapter 6: Back In The Saddle Again

i flew all night slightly above cloud level. i didn't run into any trouble and i kept above the road to see where i was going. i didn't know were i was going until the sun started to rise in back of me. i was heading westward, and that was fine with me. when the night cleared away and the sunlight fell over the land i saw i was in a sort of desert. and ahead of me was a small town. i smiled at the sight of the town. i was in the wild wild west... i'm in my element.

i flew over and landed on the road and started walking down. i walked down the dry desert road and the dirt crunched under my hooves. i looked up to a large looming sign above the entrance to the town... "apalooza" the sign read. i believe i've had business here before... yes, if i do recall i robbed the bank here...i think i'll make another withdrawal before leaving. i thought to myself and smiled.

i walked past the sign and took my first steps into the small western town. i looked forward to see a few ponies just walking around. some sitting on porches listening to one stallion who was playing a lovely tune on his guitar. he looked over and saw me. at the first sight of me he strummed too hard and an off key note cut through the air startling the whole town. every pony was now looking at me with fear and disgust spread idly across their faces.

i kept walking down the dirt path and the ponies either ran away or backed away in fear. i walked through the town with an evil smile on my face. i stopped and turned when i got to a saloon... i could use a few drinks. i walked over and up the shaky wooden steps to the doors. i walked over and pushed the doors aside. i walked into the dimly lit bar as the doors swung closed behind me. the bar which was once alive with chatter now grew silent.

"anypony miss me." i said. three ponies sitting at a table all stood up. they all had the insignia of the crimson order.

"you are a fool to come here..." said one of the ponies. "this town is under the protection of the crimson order."

"is that so." i said reaching for a throwing knife on my bandolier. i grabbed it and threw it at the pony that just spoke up. it cut through the air and stuck him in the neck. he clamored for life but soon dropped dead.

"thats it." said one of the others. they both drew their weapons and came at me. i unlatched the tomahawk and held it in my hands. one of the ponies ran up to me and tried to slash me from the left with a large sword. i ducked under the attack and from my position i lashed out my axe and in one clean sweep cut right through his leg. he fell to the ground howling in pain as i spotted the other pony. he was a unicorn and his horn was starting to glow.

"oh no you don't." i said. i threw the tomahawk at an angle and it whirled through the air. it passed my the unicorn and took off his horn. he yelled out in pain as the tomahawk stuck into the piano on the other side of the bar. i started walking over to the pony who was screaming in pain and holding his hooves over the bleeding stub that used to be his horn. i stopped beside him and stuck out my back leg. i curb stomped him on the neck and i could feel his neck snap under my hoof... then he was silent. i walked over to the piano and pulled out my axe. i looked over to the pony still sitting on the piano bench with a look of fear on his face. "sorry 'bout the piano." i said tipping my hat to him.

i walked over to the bar and took a seat between two other ponies. sure enough they both got up and ran. the bar was filled with a few dirty looks as well as some cries from a few terrified mares in the bar. along with the cries and moans of pain from that poor guy who's leg i chopped off. i'm sure he'll be fine...maybe.

"take whatever you want." said the bartender with his hands up backing away in fear.

"thats awful kind of ya partner." i said hopping over the other side of the bar. i grabbed a few large bottles of vodka, gin, whiskey and other things and put them in my bag. i noticed that my bags seem to hold more than they should. i guess there must be a charm on them too like my money pouch. i hoped over the counter again and walked over to the pony with no leg. he was still writhing in pain. he looked at me and growled and i stopped next to him.

"you won't get away... this town is...under crimson protection." he said.

"where you really all there was..." i said laughing at him. "there is no hope for you..." i said taking out my tomahawk and holding it up. "this town is no longer under you're protection." i said to him. i brought my axe down onto his face and his body jolted before going limp. "this is my town now." is said... i looked up and stared over the rest of the ponies in the bar. "is that a problem with anypony?" i asked in a threatening voice... only silence. "good." i walked back and looked past the door.

there were other ponies out there but they were searching. they all were part of the crimson order. there was one heading right for the saloon. i grabbed my bow and an arrow and got it ready. i kicked out the saloon doors and fired the arrow right into the forehead of the pony. he dropped dead and i looked around. there were only three others. i pulled out another arrow and planted it in the skull of one more.

one of them fired an arrow at me as well but missed. it stuck into the wall of the saloon next to me. saving time i yanked the arrow out to the wall and fired it back at the archer who like the other two too it right to the head. all was left was a pony with a large axe. he was shaking and seemed afraid... he actually pissed himself making me laugh. he dropped the axe and his face turned a crimson red. he ran as fast as he could. i thought that killing him would be wrong, then i remembered...i don't care. i pulled another arrow back and let it go. it tore through the air and made its way through the back of the ponies head. he fell to the ground and skidded a bit then was still.

i looked around and smiled.i looked over and saw a large building with a bank sign on it. time to get to work. i stepped down from the saloon porch and walked down the road to the bank. it took me only a minute before i was standing in front of the bank doors. i tried opening them but they were locked. i listened closely and i could hear ponies whimpering inside. they must not want me to get in... too bad. i reached for my skull key but i stopped myself. i know a more dramatic way of getting in. i turned around and bucket the door as hard as i could. i broke inward and almost flew off the hinges. the air filled with the screams of mares and stallions as they saw my face. i turned and smiled.

"what's the matter... don't want to see dear old scar." i said smiling at the terrified ponies.

"please don't hurt anypony." said one mare. she was a teller. the tellers had their hands up and they were trembling in fear. i walked over and stood right in front of her. i ran my hoof under her chin and she winced in fear.

"you think so vulgar of me... i'm offended." i said. "i just want to make a withdrawal."

"just take it and get out." she said yelling in anger and fear.

"i might have to go into the vault for this one." i said eyeing the vault resting behind them.

"no... you can't go into the vault." she said desperately.

"i wasn't asking." i said. "i was telling you that i'm going into the vault." i said hopping over the counter and walking to the vault. i pulled the skull of my hat and flipped out the key. i used it to unlock the vault and it slowly slid open. the door opened to reveal mountains of bits and gold bars. i smiled and walked in as my eyes turned a bright gold from the light of the gold in the room.

i walked in and started looking. i filled my bag with as much gold as i could. my money pouch was filled and i started pilling gold bars into my bag along with other gems and treasures. once my bags were nice and heavy... but not as heavy as they should have been. and there was very little left in the vault i decided i was done. i walked out of the vault with a smile spread across my face.

"you won't get away with this." said the teller. "the crimson order will stop you." i just laughed at the irony.

"stop me..." i said. "one of them couldn't even stop himself from pissing all over himself when i put an arrow through the skulls of his dumb buddies..." that statement set a wave of fear over the room. "now... i must be going." i said tipping my hat and walking out of the bank. i walked out into the road and kept going.

i walked down thinking were to strike next. i walked along and came across a train station just as a train was pulling up... perfect. i walked over and onto the station. as the train came to a halt and the doors opened i walked up. i stood in front of the only door to the train and it opened up revealing a few ponies getting off the train. The stallion leaving the train immediately cringed in fear and backed up upon seeing me. As he back up I walked onto the train. Any ponies that recognized my face left the cart or the train entirely. Any ponies that didn't know me yet stared at me with confusion, but the fear shed off of the other ponies left an air of uncertainty and concern in the cart. The doors closed and the train set off.

I took a seat and saw a map of the train route on the wall across from me. After looking it over I was heading west still... Good. The next stop was a a big town called manehattan. I think I'll get off there. I rested on the seat and hid my face under my hat. I closed my eyes and tried to regain some of my energy.

The slow vibration of the moving train was comforting and soothing. I sometimes caught myself dozing off but I woke myself up... Can't sleep during the day. Some pony might catch me or I could miss the stop. After sitting and resting for awhile I thought that it would be a shame if this train went undisturbed. I looked up to see an empty cart... Well this ones clear.

I am getting pretty hungry and the map says its a four hour trip. And by my guess ( and also this watch I stole.) it had only been less than an hour so there's three more to go. Think I might go grab myself a bite to eat. I let out a deep yawn and I got up. I scratched my head and walked down the cart. I opened the doors to the next cart and walked in.

Everypony in the cart looked over to me and the feeling of fear and disgust flooded into the cart. Most of the ponies I walked by backed up in their seats. I gave them an evil smile to instill fear and I carried on. I think I know what I can do with this train. The same thing happened the next few cars until the catering car came up.

There were a few ponies sitting and eating in the car but when they noticed me they slowly slipped out of the cart. There was a large store like counter sitting across the room with lots of food and other things... And a cash register. I walked over and leaned against the counter as the mare was ducked behind it putting things away.

" ahem..." I said clearing my throat.

" yes how may..." Said the mare getting up and looking at me. She made eye contact with me and she froze. She stuttered a little bit and I leaned there smiling.

" hey there honey..." I said. " got anything good.?"

" please don't hurt me." She said backing up. I just laughed. The expression has been said to me so many times its funny now.

" I don't know..." I said. " you've got such a lovely face... I'd love to dig into it with an axe." I said causing fear and terror.

" please no... You can have anything... Please just...please." She said tearing up and almost crying.

" we'll I know something that could persuade me otherwise." I said. She blushed and put her head down causing a few tears to fall to the floor.

" I'll lock the doors." She said... I laughed. She looked at me with disgust but fear over all.

" lovely gesture sweetie." I said. " ...but that's not what I meant..." I said pointing to the cash register. I could feel a huge weight lift off her already heavy shoulders.

" yes... I'm sorry." She said opening the register.

" I'm flattered you thought of it." I said smiling as she filled a bag with all the money in the register. She handed me the bag and I grabbed it. I also reached over and grabbed a muffin. " thanks sweetie..." I said turning and leaving the cart. I walked out of the cart and placed the money in my bag. I ate the muffin before I reached the end of the second cart.

I kept walking before I got to the cart I was in. I looked at the end of the cart and noticed a sign above the door across from me that said "luxury cart.". I smiled and thought it would be a nicer place to rest my hooves. I walked over and opened the door to the cart and walked in. There were a few snobby looking ponies sitting in fancy seats. There were some open ones.

I walked over and grabbed the first open seat and sat down. I put my hooves up and leaned my hat over my face. The other ponies looked at me with disgust once again... But not fear. They mustn't know who I am. Then again what do the rich have to care about me for. They're rich... They think I can't get to them, I think I'm going to like this train.

I noticed one of the ponies leaving looking very dissatisfied and angry. He looked ready to complain but he probably just left to cool off or something. I relaxed and closed my eyes letting the vibration of the moving train calm me down. I started to drift off a little bit when I was woken up by a voice.

"Sir... Sir wake up." Said a voice. It was a male voice.

" what?" I said angrily because some pony had the audacity to wake me up.

" you need a special ticket to ride it he luxury cart." Said the voice again.i pulled back my hat and showed my face while also getting a view of the pony. He was a brown stallion with a conductor's cap and suit on. I looked at him and I could feel the tension of fear building up in him but he tried to remain calm... It wasn't working. He was sweating and his eyes where darting around... He knew who I was.

" what was that about a ticket?" I said with a glare. He was shaking now.

" you hum... Need a...a ticket to... To ride in t-the luxury cart." He said.

" look at him... He can't afford a ticket for this cart." Said a snobby sounding pony who left earlier... He went and rattled to the conductor. I don't like this pony now... And his voice is making me angry. I let out a deep frustrated sigh and stood up. I could see that I easily was taller than the conductor and the rich pony.

" alright you..." I said to the conductor " sit down." I said as he obliged by hitting the floor. " and you... I hate your voice... Shut up." I said pointing to the snobby pony. He seemed taken away by my demand.

" why I never... Do you know who I am." He said. I quickly wiped out my tomahawk and held it to his neck. His eyes struck to the size of toothpicks.

" does it look like I give a damn." I said. " now take your seat...and shut the fuck up." He quietly backed up into his seat and glued his mouth shut. " alright this is how it's going to go..." I said speaking up even thought had everyponys attention already. " all of you are going to hand over all your valuables and money...if you refuse, fight back, or keep anything from me... I'll kill you... I have no problem looting corpses." I said.

I wiped out my bag and walked over to the first pony I held out the bag and my axe and she started putting her jewelry and money into the bag. I moved onto the next stallion who put his watch and his money in the bag. Pony after pony I looted everypony and it all went smoothly. Once they were all looted I stood at the door to the head of the train. I tipped my hat to them.

" thank you everypony for the patronage." I said. I then pointed my axe at the conductor. " you get over here." I said. He immediately got up and walked over. " into the caboose...now." I said he walked in through the doors and left them open. I tipped my hat again and went into the front of the train. It was full of mechanics and levers and conductor stood in the corner shaking in fear.

" what are you going to do." He asked.

" make an early stop." I replied. I turned around to the last cart and bent down. I unfastened and pulled out the bolt holding the engine and the train together. Soon the carts began to lose speed and fall behind. I closed the door and watched it drop further and further behind. I smiled and went back to the conductor.

" oh celestia please don't hurt me." He said getting on the ground and covering his head.

" get up." I said. He shot straight up with his eyes closed like he expected me to hit him with my axe. Instead I put the axe away and sat against the wall. " quit being a little bitch and just drive the damn train." I said.

" you're not going to hurt me?" He said.

" not if you don't grow some and toughen up." I said. " you're going to take me to manehattan." I said. " but you're going to stop before we hit the city got it... Don't want to get caught now do I..." I said. " if you enter the city I kill you."

" yes sir..." He said turning to the controls and doing his thing. I smiled and laid back again. I covered my face with my hat and closed my eyes. I started dozing off again letting the shaking of the train slowly put me to sleep. I started dreaming about what kind of trouble I could get in at manehattan. I'm sure it's a good place to start an uprising of bandits... Or go on a crime spree.

Since it seems like one of Equestrias larger cities I'm certain there are going to be guards stationed there as well as those annoying crimson followers. I should be ready to fight as well as run and hide someplace too. I can fight but I can't take on an army... So I'll have to be smart. Maybe a change of clothes or appearance. The one thing that seems to give me away are my red eyes and the scar running across my face. My line of thought and my rest was soon interrupted by a voice.

" sir... Sir were here." Said a familiar voice. I looked up to see it was the conductor. That's the second time he woke me up in one day. " were here." He said. I got up and looked out the window. In the distance I could see a large city resting across a Forest. There were large meadows that fell into a forest near the city. This conductor could have just brought me into the city while I was asleep but he was too scared to dare try... That's good. I smiled and opened the train door and hopped out. Before I left I looked back at him.

" I was never here." I said. " bandits robbed the train no dislodged the couplings... Not me, understand." I said violently. He shied back and nodded his head. " good." I said spreading my wings and flying a bit into the air. I flew towards the forest to take cover from any suspicion. If I want to have some fun without getting in serious trouble I'll need a change of style. I think dying my clothes would be good... And I was thinking of a mask. I think I would look awesome with a mask.

I flew fast towards the forest and soon I was inches from the trees. I ducked down into the forest and flew low to the ground and slowed down so I don't crash. I headed in the direction of the city and flew past trucks and fallen trees. I could see the growing towers looming over the forest past the canopy. I was getting close. I kept flying and I could see faint signs of ponies and buildings. seeing this i slowed down and touched down to the ground so i don't arouse suspicion.

i walked past a few trees before they began thinning out to reveal a park. there were a few ponies in the park and they hadn't noticed me walk in so i was in the clear for now. i should try and hide my face as much as i could. i trotted over to a path and nonchalantly started walking out of the park. i managed to get out of the park alright and now i was walking through the city streets. i looked around and i was lucky enough to stop near a bunch of shops. maybe even the market itself or something.

a smile spread across my face as i looked over and i could see a tailor shop. i should be able to dye my clothes there. then maybe i can find a mask. i looked around and saw there were indeed guards on duty here and a few ponies had crimson order insignias on. i slowly started walking down the street hoping nopony would notice me. i managed to get halfway through without incident.

i kept my head down a little as i passed uncomfortably close to a few crimson followers walking down the street. when they left i let out a silent sigh of relief. this is the first time in a while that i've been scared. i know that if i set off one guard and they know it's me they'll lock up the whole city. i won't survive if they figure me out, and i'm sure they gave up on hanging me and will kill me on sight. while i was distracted by my thoughts i looked up to see i was right in front of the tailor... phew. i opened the door and walked in. there was a ringing and i heard a voice from the back of the store.

"be there in a minute." said a female voice. i walked over and leaned against the counter while a stunning blue mare with clear white hair walked into the room and stood behind the counter. i looked at her and she looked at me and smiled... what? she must not know who i am... that means i can play nice guy until i get what i need. come to think of it i made eye contact with a few ponies on my way here... this place must not be aware of my existence yet... still, a change of feature couldn't hurt. "can i help you?" she asked.

"i was wondering if you dyed clothes here." i asked.

"yes we use a magical formula to instantly and permanently dye clothes..." she said. i smiled.

"wonderful..." i said. "i'd like to dye my clothes then."

"of course... do you know the primary and secondary colors you want." she asked. i stood there for a second and thought on the colors i wanted. i had a beautiful idea.

"dye the primary color crimson... and the secondary color black." i said.

"alright sir just take off the gear you want dyed and place them on the counter." said the mare. i backed up and started unstrapping all my gear and clothing. i took off everything including my hat. i left my bags on the floor and took off all the gear on my clothes and put them with my bags. i walked over and dropped the gear on the counter. she panned over it and ran a few numbers in her head. "the total for all this will be 142 bits." she said, what i rip off... oh well.

"here you go." i said handing her a small pouch with the money in it." she smiled and grabbed the gear. she went to the back and closed the door while i took a seat at one of the chairs lying around. i sat close to my gear and crossed my arms. playing nice isn't killing me as much as i thought, it's not actually that bad... what am i saying, i am scar... king of the outlaws and most wanted and dangerous pony bandit in equestria.

i sat there for a few more minutes wondering how long this would take. soon though my question was answered when the mare came out with a red and black pile of leather and cloth. that must have only been five minutes. i walked over and she handed me the clothes. i grabbed the leather armour and started strapping it on. after that i put on my duster... then my hat. i smiled and tipped my hat to her making her blush.

"thank you kindly ma'am." i said smiling.

"any time." she replied. i walked over to my gear and started strapping it back on. i refilled my utility belt and sheathed my sword. i strung my bow over my back along with the quiver of arrows and i strapped my saddle bags to my side. they were heavy from all the stolen goods/ blood money. finally i grabbed my tomahawk and tucked it back inside of the duster hidden from view. i tipped my hat again and walked outside with my new armour and gear. the leather and the duster were varying shades of red and crimson along with dark black covering the details and ridges.

i walked down the roads for an hour looking for some kind of mask store... or something to hide my face but there was no luck. after almost an hour of looking for masks i gave up on that and decided to just settle for a bandana or something else but no luck there either. i kept looking and it started getting a bit dark now. there is literally no face wear in this fucking city. i let out a frustrated sigh and decided to hunt down the nearest bar.

i went to turn around and head back into the town because i had seen a decent looking bar earlier. as i was turning my eye caught something and my gaze stuck to the object. in the window of a blacksmiths shop. laying under a suit of armor and next to a few mounted weapons... was a mask. it was thick and made of steel with intricate symbols and designs engraved into it. it was a tainted kind of steel so it looked black... like it was burnt. it had the resemblance of a skull but instead of teeth there were sharp fangs. and instead of large open circles for eyes there were two thin strips like it was squinting and gazing into you're soul... it was perfect.

i quickly trotted over excited to purchase the mask... or steal. i think having a kind attitude is starting to affect my brain. once i get the mask i'm dropping the good guy act. i walked up to the blacksmiths door and pushed it open. i walked inside and i saw the blacksmith at a grinding wheel sharpening a sword. there were sparks and flares everywhere. i want to make quick work of this and get it done with. he looked over and saw me. he smiled and stopped kicking the wheel pedal. the wheel grinded to a halt and he placed down the sword. the beautiful sparks filling the room vanished and it was much quieter.

"hello there young adventurer." he said. he must not be aware of who i am... i think the whole town is like that. "what can i do ya for."

"the mask in the window." i said pointing to it. "how much for it." i asked. he smiled and walked over. he walked past me and picked up the mask from the window and dusted it off. it had a lot of dust on it. he held it up and looked at it. he smiled and looked over to me.

"this mask here is a relic." he said. "it is imbued with great and powerful magic... it can fit anypony and the magic tethers it to you're face. you can take it off but only you're hooves can take it off." he said.

"you said powerful magic..." i said. "what kind of magic?"

"well now that's the wonderful part." he said. "it's a void of magic... so to speak, you see youngin this mask is impervious to magic. magic has no affect on it and the wearer." he said. i couldn't have heard anything more perfect in all my life. finally no more pesky unicorns and they're damn magic. "a lot of ponies think it's evil... i saw to hell with them."

"how much for it?" i asked. he smiled and chuckled to himself.

"it's been here for a long time collecting dust... but its still not going to be cheap." said the old blacksmith.

"i don't care." i said. "i've got a bar of gold with you're name on it." i said. he laughed.

"you adventurers and you're talk of big money... lets see this bar of gold then." he said laughing and smiling to himself. i quickly undid my bag and pull out a bar of gold i stole from the bank. it's easy spending big like this when you know you didn't have to work too hard to get the money. i could see his expression change from happy to shocked and amazed. "sweet celestia you weren't kidding." he said.

"i don't joke... is this enough."

"y-yeah... kid you've got a deal." he said eager to get his hands on the gold bar... i'll be sure to visit this shop later and make another deal with mr blacksmith here... but that's later. i handed to stallion the gold and he handed me the mask. i grabbed it and i was shocked at how light it was. like it was made of paper mache or something. it was ridiculous. and the mask was small before but i could feel and see it growing in my hoof. i looked at it and i held it up. how am i supposed to see through those eye holes.

"so have you ever tried it on yourself." i asked.

"hmm... no, never bothered to..." said the blacksmith.

i brought the mask closer to my face and looked at it. i turned it around and checked it out. it just seemed like a regular metal mask... hard to think it wards off magic or something like that. i flipped it over and held the part of the mask my face goes into close. i slowly brought the mask closer to my face to put it on when the unexpected happened.

the mask flew from my hoof and stuck right to my face. everything was black and i started freaking out. i yelled into the mask but it was muffled. i heard the blacksmith was yelling and trying to help. i tried prying the mask off my face and i felt a deep pain burrowing into my back and legs and... well everything was in pain. i could feel something creeping along my body. then before i knew it my body fell to the ground limp and i could feel my mind slowly slipping away only to be replaced by maniacal and evil laughter.

for the second time in a long time... i felt fear.


	7. Chapter 7: The Metal Mask

**-WARNING-**

**the following chapter contains explicit adult material of both graphic and sexual nature... If do not wish to view such thing splash douse your computer with rubbing alcohol then attemp to dry it with a lit match... If not keep reading.**

**- you have been warned-**

I could feel my mind slowly fall back into place and i became aware of everything. i could feel the pain spread all over my body and i was lying on the ground. i could hear voices. they were faint but i counted at least three. i couldn't see, everything was black and my eyes were closed. i tried opening them but it felt like i didn't know how to open them... i simply couldn't. i let out a low groan and i could hear the voices outside flourish at my responsiveness. they could tell i was alive now but i still couldn't move.

i could feel the pain all over my body start to fade away. it started crawling back from my hooves to my body. then from my chest to my neck and from there all i was left with was a throbbing headache which was gone in a few seconds. i could feel everything now and i could move. without hesitation i shot up from the air and i looked around. i backed away and started taking deep breaths. i looked around frantically and took in my surroundings.

there were three ponies in the room. the blacksmith and two royal guards. i looked at them in fear thinking they would notice me and attack but they didn't. they looked at me with sympathy. it almost made me want to lash out at them first... but i've got more important things to worry about now.

"sir are you alright?" asked one of the guards.

"what... what happened?" i asked.

"it was the most remarkable thing." said the blacksmith. "i've seen ponies try the mask on before but never has it had that kind of affect on them."

"what happened?" i said again with more volume.

"i have no idea... but it's like you just became one with the mask or something." said the blacksmith.

"what...?" i said.

"sir... you should look in a mirror." said one of the guards pointing over to one of the big mirrors for customers trying on new gear. i slowly walked over and as i saw my image slowly creeping into the mirror i became more and more shocked. soon i was in full view and... and... i don't even know. it was like the blacksmith said... i looked like myself but... it's like the mask just became part of me... all of me.

i had the same armor on but there were black metal plates covering everything. there were black chains hanging from random spots and the plates were scratched and worn from battle. my armor stayed the same and there was some chainmail parts to it. the duster had large metal plates too but it had what looked like spines coming out of the back... like a dragons spines. even my hat. it was metal plated everywhere and the skull key changed to resemble the mask. even the mask was not part of my face... but it looked like i could easily take it off. hell it looked like it shouldn't even be attached to my face. i spread out my wings and they were now armor plated with blades at the base and metal flaps covering the feathers.

and to top it all off the black metal was glowing with red symbols etched into the metal. like the style of the mask the symbols glowed a blood red. even the slots were my eyes are is glowing red. all my gear changed too. my sword became an evil black sword with the same red symbols in it. my rope wasn't rope anymore but a chain with a spike at both ends. and my tomahawk wa a demonic black spikey axe with the red symbol on it. my bow was the same. spiked with red symbols and the arrows were evil looking. lets just say i wouldn't want to get hit by one.

"what... what did you do to me." i said. you could partially see my mouth moving through the slots of the mask there the fangs were.

"i didn't do this i swear." said the blacksmith. "tons of ponies before you tried the mask on and this never happened." he said. one of the guards stepped forward.

"sir will you be alright?" he asked. i kept looking at myself in the mirror. the change was ratifying and sudden but... i looked badass. i felt both angry, confused and happy. probably the strangest mixture of feeling anypony has ever felt. i wanted to be mad... but i just decided to fuck feeling anything. i want to go to an inn, drink myself to sleep then wake up in the morning to continue cleaving my path of destruction through equestria.

"yeah... i'll be fine." i said smiling under the mask.

"alright then." said the guard walking to the other one and then both of them heading to the door. "have a safe night." he said and they left. i couldn't help but keep staring into the mirror. part of me wanted to take the mask off but i was afraid of what might happen should i put it on again. even my hair seemed to spike out like it was part of the mask. all this metal and armor... but i feel so light, what is this?

"are you alright..." asked the blacksmith.

"i feel bad about this... like it's my fault." he said.

"don't worry about it." i said in an angered melancholy voice. "keep the gold... i'm going now." i said. i walked out the door and into the streets. he tried stopping me but i just kept going. i didn't care about any of this... i just want this fucking day to end. first a bank robbery... then a train heist, now this... you know... today has been a fun day. i could feel some happiness and enthusiasm flowing into my body. and tomorrow i'll go on a raiding spree then get the fuck out of here.

i walked around the road for a while and it was getting late. i only managed to grab the attention of every pony i passed on the street. even the stuck up crimson followers stared at me. i walked around until i found a bar. i looked up at the sign on the bar. "Vixxxens bar... booze, beds, and booty." it said. the x's in 'vixxxens' were glowing red... i think i might like to stay the night here. kind of... unwind. i smiled and walked to the door. i pushed it open and walked in.

it was moody in here. it was nice and dark but light enough to see. there was a bar to the right with a long counter cut into the wall. it was big enough for two bartenders. then there was a stage where a stripper was grinding against a pole to electronic music. i didn't mind the music much but it sort of blends into the background. there were rooms for 'private dances'... and then a staircase for regular rooms. i was partially surprised to find that there were quite a few crimson followers in here. there was a large group of six sitting around at the lounge near the stage... what was more surprising was that i think one of them was a mare. i think i'll start with some beers and see what kind of hell i can raise in my drunken rage.

i walked over to the bar and took a seat away from some of the other ponies. the ponies next to me looked at me with curiosity. i turned my head and gazed back at them and they immediately filled with fear and turned away. i looked back across the bar and thought about what i wanted. there was a lot to chose from but then i remembered something useful... i don't give a fuck. if its strong its good. the bare mare walked over and smiled to see me.

"what'll it be hero..." she said winking at me with a slutty smile. the word hero made me laugh. "what?" she said wondering why i was laughing.

"darling i'm no hero." i said.

"sorry sugar... boss makes us say that to all crimson followers." she said.

"i'm not a crimson follower." i replied.

"well then... what'll it be killer." she said... a more appropriate title.

"something strong..." i said. "doesn't matter what it is... just make it strong."

"i've got just the thing." she said giving me a wink and walking away. she was swaying her hips to the music and i could see her undercarriage. then again i could see almost everyponies junk from this seat. i retched a littled and turned back to the bar. i looked over to the see the bar mare walking over a few bottles floating by her side. it took me this long to see she was a unicorn. "here you go... you wanted something strong, you asked for it."

"what the hell is this." i said as i watched her mixing the drinks and other things together. the shook them up and stirred them together in a cocktail blend then poured it out into a beer glass. the liquid was foamy but it looked like a slushie too... and it was blue, nowhere in that mess of alcohol did i see anything blue... nothing.

"we call it the mind lock." she said. "goest to you're head in a few seconds and it's stronger than a bottle of vodka." she walked away again flaunting her stuff to all the ponies to help another stallion. i stared at my blue alcoholic brain killing beverage and questioned whether or not this was a logical decision... ah fuck it, bottoms up. i picked up the glass and started drinking it. i downed half of the drink before the cold went right to my brain. it was a brain freeze but it soon faded and i felt it being slowly replaced by a drunken buzz... that was awesome.

i downed the other half and experienced the same thing. but the buzz came back as a stronger buzz. i think that was enough for tonight. i was already getting dizzy and disoriented. i decided that i didn't want to wake up tomorrow like somepony took my tomahawk while i was sleeping and wedged it into my skull. i called the waitress over. she walked over and saw the empty glass.

"you downed it already... damn you've got some balls." she said.

"got anything to kill a hangover?" i asked with my speech slightly slurred.

"yeah..." she said. "sit tight." she walked over to the back and soon came back out with a glass of orange liquid. "here it's orange juice... the vitamin C sucks the alcohol right up." she handed it to me and i grabbed the glass. i drank down the orange juice but i didn't feel much different.

"thanks darling." i said tipping my hat. i passed her some money for the drink and the orange juice plus a tip. i don't know why i tipped her. i guess i'm too drunk to care about being good or bad. and i just noticed i still had my mask on and stuff. how did i drink those beverages with it on. i felt around to my mouth and noticed my mouth is visible under the fangs of the skull mask... kick ass. i sat there and i could feel the alcohol and the buzz slowly lingering away.

while i sat there two gorgeous mares walked over and sat on either side of me. i automatically singled them out to be strippers here. one other thing i found interesting was that they were both twins. normally this wouldn't be a problem for me... but in my decreasingly drunken state, this was blowing my mind. i didn't mention it though. i wasn't thinking anything stupid like it was the same pony it's just that i didn't know how they could be identical.

"hey there big guy." the one to my right said. "enjoying the club?"

"uh... yeah." i said still confused.

"you need anything." the other twin asked.

"uh... not right now..." i said.

"alright... we'll see you later then." said the one on the right. they both got up and walked away and i watched them. they walked together literally side to side. they were right up against each other with their tails twirling together. for some reason the word 'lesbian' kept running through my mind... 'incest' too... that was running around in there too. i'm not sure if its for show, or a coincidence, or if they really are twins but they creep me out.

" i see you've met the twins." said the bar mare walking over and leaning up against the bar.

"are they really twins?" i asked.

"no... it's just for show... but they are sisters... just not identical ones, but you know, the boss though identical twins would be sexier so... boom, twins." she said.

"are... are they lesbians." i asked with the word being drunkenly shot out of my mouth. that was one of those dumb drunken things you should never say. i automatically wanted to take it back but i couldn't... it was out there... now we have to deal with it.

"oh the twins...pshh... those two are huge lesbians... it's gross." she said. i'm kinda glad that didn't go horribly wrong and get me slapped or something. i rubbed my head a little and i could feel my witts returning to me and my head clearing. i'm going to have to remember that orange juice trick for other times.

"that is pretty gross." i said.

"yeah... so are you staying the night... or just here for the drinks and the show." asked the mare.

"nah... i'll be staying the night... how much for a room?" i asked.

"it's ten bits a night for a room..." she said. "or you could get the 'sweet dream special' for 50 bits a night." she said with sarcastic air quotes.

"the fuck is a 'sweet dream special'" i said mimicking her sarcastic quotes.

"for 50 bits you get to stay the night and get some alone time with one of the girls..." she said. it sounded mildly interesting. i think i'll have a drink over it and get back to her on that.

"sounds tempting..." i said. "i'll have to get back to you on that."

"alright hun i'll..."

"hey hottie... hows about some more bears over this way." said a loud and obnoxious voice cutting off the mare. i looked back to see where it was coming from the group of crimson followers. they were getting up and slowly and drunkenly making their way over to the bar from the lounge area.

"oh damn not these jerks again." said the mare. the crimson followers walked over and they crowded at the bar sitting close to me... only a chair away. and my guess from before was right... there was a mare with them... 2 mare, what the fuck?

"come on little lady." said a large looking stallion in leather armour and a big axe. there were six in total. the guy with the axe. a knight with a sword, a pony in tight leather with scary looking knives, an archer, and the two mares were unicorn mages... the perfect round up... great. i could tell they were all drunk out of their mind... except for the archer who sat there acting calm cool and collective. the mares however are wasted to hell. they were blushing and they looked like they would fuck anything.

"you six have had enough..." said the bar mare.

"c'mon... just a little more, sugar." said the rouge.

"i said no." said the bar mare... "now go away before i kick you out."

"woah..." they all said.

"big tough barmaid is gonna kick us out." said the pony with the big axe... i could already smell trouble... and it smelt of fresh blood, i think she could use my help. i'm not sure why but i really don't want to see these assholes make a mess of this bar... that's my job. "do you know who we are... were the crimson order... we keep you're asses safe from all the shit out there and you're not going to let us have a few drinks."

"maybe you should give them a few drinks." i said to the bar mare. "infact i know a drink they might like." i said looking at the mare, she looked at me confused but the wires in her head connected and she smiled.

"alright boys..." she said. "be back with a few special drinks." she said.

"none for me." said the archer. the bar mare looked at him and smiled. the other five clamored their way over to me.

"thanks guy..." said the presumed leader of the bunch. "what's you're name."

"hot shot." i said reusing my old alias.

"hot shot huh..." said one of the two drunk mares walking over to me. she wrapped one hoof around me and smiled while the other one leaned against her friend. i hope that bar mare gets here quickly.

"he is pretty hot..." said the other mare. "you know the mares here aren't the only ones who know how to have fun." both mares were practically climbing over me. i tried to keep calm and act cool but i was burning up inside. i really wanted to put an axe in between one of their faces.

"what's with the mask." asked the rogue.

"yeah dude you can take it off we're inside." said the knight

"it doesn't come off." i said making up a quick lie. one of the drunk mares looked over and placed her hooves on the mask. i got afraid that she would pull it off but after giving it a few tugs she stopped. she looked at me in awe. i just remembered what the blacksmith said about only me being able to take it off.

"woah..." she said. "it really doesn't come off."

"thats pretty badass." said the knight.

"you know you should join the crimson raiders." said the guy with the axe. before i could answer him the bar mare walked over with five large glasses of blue liquid.

"alright fellas drink up." she said placing them down. the followers ignored me for their drinks. i noticed they were just slowly sipping on them... that won't do.

"you know guys the best way to drink these things is to do it as fast as possible." i said egging them on. i sounded like i was plotting something but they were too drunk to notice. i looked over to see one of the mares chugging the drink. she finished it in a few seconds and put the glass. down. here eyes dilated and she smiled.

"holy crap... that's awesome." she said. the others looked at their drinks and started chugging them. they all finished their drinks fully and shared the same experience. they were dilating and they looked like they just did a ton of drugs. "i think tha-" is all the mare said before she fell to the ground limp. the others got startled and got up except for the second mare who went to her friend and held her up.

"star...star get up..." said the mare almost crying. the others just looked at me with hatred and drunken rage. i just sat there and smiled.

"what did you fucking do..." said the pony with the axe. he looked between me and the bar mare. the bar mare was afraid but i knew it would be fine... he'll be down soon enough. it wasn't but a second later that the knight slowly fell to his knees and hit the ground like the mare. then the rogue who toppled over. he grabbed onto the bar to keep himself up but he just slid off and hit the ground too. i then looked behind me to see the other mare was out now. "you... what demon magic is this." said the pony with the axe.

"you seem more resilient than the others." i said getting up. we stood at the same height. i noticed all the bar was watching mow and even the music stopped and the dancer on the stage stood there watching along with her audience.

"did... oh celestia help me if you poisoned those drinks." he said gritting his teeth.

"nope... i didn't do anything wrong... this is all you're fault." i said, that only seemed to make him even angrier. "your friends are poisoned though... but you poisoned yourselves."

"what do you mean?" said the stallion practically yelling now.

"alcohol poisoning... those drinks were stronger than a bottle of vodka dn you're friends were already wasted to hell..." i said.

"you planned this." he said grabbing his axe and holding it in rage.

"not exactly." i replied. "i just said the barmaid should give you another drink... now i suggest you put you're weapon away before you do something you regret." i said sneaking my hoof into my duster and grabbing the handle of my newly changed tomahawk.

"something i regret... you'll be the one regretting this... i'll show you not to mess with the crimson order." he said. he was about to rush me but a voice stopped him.

"for celestia's sake ironsides... don't be an idiot." said the voice... it was the archer sitting at the bar. "you can't hope to win a fight in your condition."

"i can take this whimp... you know i don't get drunk." said the pony with the axe. can't get drunk... that's interesting, i wonder how that works.

"i know... but you still can't take him." said the archer. who is this guy?

"i'll show you." said ironsides. he yelled and charged at me... too easy. as he was right in front of me ready to swing his axe i stepped out of the way and tripped him. on his way down i spun and lashed out my tomahawk. i cut him clean across the back. it cut clean through his tough leather armor like butter and left a deep gash down his back. any deeper and i'm sure i would have cut through his spinal cord. he fell to the ground and let out a cry of intense pain. i twirled my axe in my hand and pointed it to the pony.

"next time you charge me... i'll kill you." i said.

"you fucking... ahhh." he said trying to reach the spot on his back but he couldn't. "fuck that hurts." he yelled. he got up and picked up his axe. "you'll pay for that." he took a small step forward getting ready to charge again.

"another step and i'll kill you on the spot... drop you're weapon and leave." i said.

"you can't kill me." he said taking another step. i quickly threw the tomahawk and it whirled through the air. it flew over and stuck him right in the middle of the face. his head started gushing with blood and grey matter.

"don't tell me what to do." i said. there was a collective gasp in the audience... and by audience i mean every single pony in the bar. i walked over to the dead body now laying limp on the floor spewing blood and brain tissue. i walked up to him and grabbed the handle of the axe and yanked it out of his head. it made a sickening squish and crunch as it left the skull, it also left behind a more sickening picture. i picked up the axe and looked at it. the blood seemed to seep into the axe and it glowed brighter. same thing with my armour and mask and well... everything on me. the ponies in the bar slowly started clapping then they cheered.

"alright what's going on back here." said a female voice coming from a door. the door flew open and a beautiful looking mare walked out. she had bright green fur with scarlet red hair and mane that were beautifully straight and silky. her eyes were deep blue and she had a cutie mark of two crossed feathers. "what's goi... what the fuck happened now." she said stopping her last sentence in exchange for a new one when she saw the mess over by me.

"who is that." i said to the bartender quietly.

"thats my boss... vixen." she whispered back. i watched as the mare walked over to the scene and looked around at the bodies. she smiled when she saw their faces. she seems like a regular mare but there's something scary about her. its like the feeling of fear driven respect.

"it's about time somepony wiped out these asshole crimson followers." she said. "all they do is come in here cause trouble and drink up all my booze... the only one that doesn't give me trouble is the one with the bow... so you killed them all." she said looking at me.

"well it wasn't just me..." i said. "you barmaid helped..." i said gesturing to the bare mare. she blushed and vixen smiled at her.

"so are they dead?" she asked.

"well this guys dead..." i said kicking the corpse of iron sides. "yeah... he's pretty dead... as for the others they experienced a king of accelerated alcohol poisoning... so if they're not dead now they will be... and if for some reason they survive i'm sure they won't be coming back here for a while."

"well dead or not i'm sure they won't be bothering us like you said." said vixen. "i'll have my boys pick up the trash... why don't you and i discuss the terms of you're reward hero."

"i'm not a hero." i said.

"hero or not you saved me and my girls a lot of trouble... so you're a hero in my books." she said.

"i don't like that word." i said quietly to myself getting a bit angry. she turned and started walking to the door and i followed her. the other ponies smiled and clapped until we both got into the office and she shut the door. before going in she gestured to two colts in the room to leave. they went over to go pick up the 'trash' and it was just us. i could hear the club returning to its normal routine outside.

"so about you're reward." said vixen. "i don't have much to offer you."

"then there's no need for me to be here." i said turning her down.

"but i do have something you might like." she said. i turned back to see her walking into a separate room. "in here." she said closing the door behind her i rolled my eyes and started walking over to the door. this better be good. i opened the door and looked inside. it was a large bedroom with a huge red heart shaped bed in it. i walked in and looked around but there was no vixen in here. i walked over and stood at the edge of the bed. i swear this better not be a trick. next thing i heard was the door behind me shut and click as it was locked as well.

i quickly turned back to see moxie with a seductive smile only a few feet from me. she started casually waltzing over. i'm pretty sure i know what's happening now. she walked over and stepped up onto her back hooves. she leaned forward against me and toppled me over onto the bed. she laid on top of me with her big eyes and her sexy smile.

"it's been awhile since i've had a decent stallion walk through that door." she said. she slowly started to unhook the latches of my armour and the leather armour came right off. she pulled it off and i took off my hat then my duster... all that was left was the mask. i grabbed the mask and slowly pulled it off. the glowing metal on my armor stopped glowing and it soon crumbled into ash and disappeared leaving my armor and equipment the way it once was.i took the mask off and she could see my face... but she wasn't scared by me.

she smiled and slowly started rubbing her hooves on the base of my cock until it sprouted and grew larger and larger. once it was fully erect she smiled. she dragged her tongue from the base all the way to the tip and cupped her lips over the head. the flicked her tongue at the head and i moaned. she slowly started pushing her head down to the base of my cock. she opened her eyes and looked at me with a smile. she pulled her head up and then pushed it back down.

she kept going up and down over and over again. i let out small moans that were coupled by the slurps and muffled grunts coming from her. i could feel a pressure building in me and i lost control. i reached out and grabbed her head and made her suck faster and faster. she didn't seem to mind. i pushed her head down deeper and faster and she let out little grunts while also massaging her own marehood. i let out a deep grunt and blew my load into her mouth. i pushed her head all the way down on my cock and forced it all down her throat. when i was done she pulled her head up and coughed and sputtered. when she recovered after a few seconds she looked at me and smiled.

"did you like you're reward." she asked crawling up me playfully. i just smiled cynically.

"it was pretty good." i said. at this point we were face to face. i grabbed her shoulder and spun over so she was under me. "ready to have some fun now." i said.

"what do you think you're doing?." she said. i started teasing her by prodding my cock against her pussy.

"you know you want it." i said. she closed her eyes and looked away.

"please don't." she said. for the owner of a whore house she was pretty innocent... i can fix that. i lined my cock up with her pussy and pushed my way in. she let out a few shrieks and groans as i slowly pushed my way into her. she let out a few more squeals and soon enough i was all the way in. she was quivering from the pleasure and the fear too.

"you can't tell me now you don't want it." i said whispering into her ear.

"i do..." she said timidly. "please go... i want it so bad." she said getting more courageous.

"thats more like it." i said. i pulled my cock back and slammed it back in. she let out a shriek and i started bucking my hips back and forth pushing in and out of her tight pussy. i smiled and let out a few grunts while she kept her eyes closed and let out a few moans and shrieks. i looked at her and smiled sadistically. i couldn't remember how great sex was but this is pretty damn awesome. she's amazingly tight for somepony of her... occupation.

she let out another squeal and i felt her cover my cock in her warm juices as she climaxed. i was getting there still. i kept bucking and i picked up speed. i bucked harder and faster and she started moaning and grunting again. she kept her eyes closed and just waited for it to be over. i pumped harder and faster and she grew louder and louder. i let out a few grunts here and there too. i could eventually feel a pressure building inside of me.

i kept at it for a few more minutes until i couldn't hold it in much longer. i thrusted my dick into her as hard as i could and i shot my load into her pussy. she let out a squeal and closed her eyes tighter while i let out a deep grunt. when i was done i pulled out and a little bit of semen started dripping out of her pussy. i stood back up and my cock went flaccid and tucked itself away in it's sheath. curled up into a ball with a few tears in her eyes.

"you know it's been a long time since i've had that much fun." i said smiling. she looked at me with terror in her eyes. "but i'm a nice guy... so i'm going to let you go." i said. she closed her eyes and kept to her ball. i grabbed my gear and quickly put it on. i put on the duster and my hat and i grabbed the mask. i walked out of the room and unlocked the door. i walked out and before i closed the door i could hear here starting to cry. i smiled and shut the door. i walked into the next room which was an office room.

i guess killing those crimson followers got me riled up. i'm feeling a bit mischievous now... but tired, mostly tired. i was about to leave the room when i spotted a long mirror. i looked at myself in the mirror and then at the mask. i let out a deep sigh and brought the mask to my face. i placed it on my face and it seemed to fuse and become part of my face. i saw in the mirror i was surrounded by a cylinder of red and black fire that hid my body. when it died down i looked like i did the last time. black plates of glowing red metal covering everything and changing me. i liked this look. it has an air of fear and danger to it... it's perfect, one of my best buys.

i walked to the door and opened it up. i left the room and walked into the bar. i walked over and it looked like all the ponies went back to the strippers and booze. i walked over and took my last seat at the bar. the bar mare trotted over and smiled. i smiled back at her... with more malcontent than usually but still... i smiled.

"so how was vixens 'reward'. "she said with more sarcastic quotes.

"it was pleasing." i said. "she even offered me a free room for the night." i said making up a lie.

"alright cool... did she say which one?" asked the bar mare.

"no... she didn't say." i said. she ducked behind the counter and went through a few keys inside of a bucket.

"ah here it is." she said holding up a key. "this is the nicest room we have... it's got the fireplace so it stays warm during this time of year." she said handing the key to me. i grabbed it and smiled.

"much obliged." i said tipping my hat. "think i'll be hitting the hay..." i said.

"alright... night." she said as i left the bar and headed for the stairs. i walked over to the stairs and made my way up smiling devilishly the whole way up. i got to the top and looked around. the key had a small number '5' written on it. i looked around and saw a room with a '5' on the door. i smiled and unlocked the door with the key. i opened up and i walked it.

it was a cozy warm little room with a bed, lamp, dresser, wardrobe, closet, desk, and a fireplace with a nice roaring fire... probably a magic fire. i took off all my clothes again along with the mask. once again the metal on my armour crumbled to ash and disappeared as soon as my mask came off. i placed them all down and crawled into the bed.

i closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep. today was a pretty good day. got rich, hijacked a train, killed a few assholes, and fucked some broad... pretty good day. it only makes me wonder what kind of evil shenanigans i can whip up for tomorrow. while i have to admit playing nice made me feel a bit... weird. i can't really explain it. like it felt like how i was supposed to act. but there's no doubt that i'm the evil outlaw scar. that much is true and constantly reflects on me. but i don't know. i feel like i should be bad and good at the same time... it's confusing. being good seems like it would be more... i don't know... right.

but it's so good to be bad...

-Authors Note: I told you guys stat shit gets real... ( rape rape rape rape rape.). I'm sure that all of you are most likely confused as fuck and pranymore are having a hard tim. Following along with the story now... Let me help you understand...CRIMSON IS EVIL NOW! Fuckin deal with it... Keep reading and maybe it'll all make sense at the end... Maybe...anwireless your reading make sure to stay shady.-End of Note-


	8. Chapter 8: Brace For Impact

I slowly opened my eyes and the light from the room flickered through my field of vision. I woke up In a haze with a sore head and back. I let out a deep yawn and rubbed my eyes. I looked around the room I was in to see the fire from last night was still going. I remembered the day I had yesterday and I smiled.

I tossed the sheets off of me and they folded across the bed haphazardly. I sat up at the edge of the bed and let out another yawn. And stood up. I walked over to my leather gear and started strapping it on. I placed the duster over the armor and placed my hat on top of my head. I grabbed the mask on the table and looked at it... I love this freaking mask.

I placed it over my face and in a flash I was covered by red and black flames like last night. When the flames died down my gear was changed. My armor was plated with metal that ran red with glowing curves and symbols and my weapons changed too. I smiled and looked at myself in a mirror on the wardrobe. I was about to leave when there was a furious knocking on the door.

" open up you... Open this door now you sick fuck." Said a familiar voice. I walked over to the door and unlocked it. I opened it up and it was the bar mare from last night... She seemed angry. I just smiled at her.

" morning" I said.

" get the fuck out of here..." She said. " you're a monster."

" talk to your boss lately." I said knowing what this was about.

" get out now..." I just laughed a bit at her pitiful attempt to seize control of the situation. " get out or I'll throw you out." She said.

" oh will you now." I said moving forward and towering over her. She looked at me with anger and she closed her eyes backing away. The horn on her head started glowing blue. I could see the same blue aura shape around my body. She was trying to use magic on me.

Before she could get control of me something awesome happened. Her magic aura around me faded to red as my armor glowed bright red. It seemed to take a more evil static form. Soon the aura covering her horn did the same and in a flash she was thrown against the wall by her own magic... It doesn't just stop magic... It reflects it... That's a beautiful thing.

" no but... How." She said on the ground. I walked over and stood above her. I leaned down and stuck my face into hers almost laying on top of her. She turned away in fear.

" I don't completely hate you... So I've decided That you've learned your lesson... But I want you to know that I could have done whatever I want with you." I said she just whimpered and kept her eyes closed. "Thanks for the beers sugar... Be seeing you around." I said getting off of her and walking away.

I walked down the hall and into the bar. There were only a few ponies in the bar now but I'll leave them alone for now... Maybe. I saw one stallion with an unopened bottle of bourbon. I walked over and put my hoof on the back of his head. I smashed his face into the counter and he was knocked out. I took the bourbon and uncorked it. I took a sip and looked around. The other ponies looked at me but when I looked back at them they all turned away.

I put the bourbon into my bag for later with those other bottles of booze that escaped my mind. I walked to the door and pushed it open. I walked out and into the streets. I looked around and started heading deeper into the city. I looked over and something caught my eye. it was a wanted poster... Yay it was me again.

This time it was me with my leather armor and an angry stare. It said wanted dead or alive. The reward for my capture or corpse was 25 million bits now instead of the previous five. I didn't walk over to the picture and look it over but i just glanced at it as I passed by so I don't arouse suspicion. There were a few crimson followers looking at the wanted poster. And as I walked through the streets i noticed them more and more.

Getting nervous that my disguise wasn't enough I though of a few ways to slightly improve it. And I think the only one dead giveaway I had was the skull buckle on my hat. I quickly reached up and snatched it off and placed it in my bag without some pony noticing. I looked around and felt a little better now. Though I got strange looks from other ponies I was sure it was because of my armor.

I walked down the streets some more and passed numerous guards now. Before there were just a few here and there but now they're everywhere. I tried not making eye contact with them and they ignored me. I looked around looking for something to do. I looked down at the dirt as I was walking and I noticed a large shadow quickly cover over the road accompanied by a low hum.

I looked up and smiled. There were royal canterlot war ships flying high above the city. All the ponies looked at them with curiosity as to my they would be here. I know why they're here. I kept looking up and confirmed they were the ships me and the other canterlot convicts had stolen. much of the ponies didn't seem to be afraid of the balloons but only because they didn't know who was piloting them. i smiled again and spread my wings wide. a few ponies that were close by stepped back and i shot straight into the air.

i flew up towards the balloon ships and whirled past the front of the hull. i flew up and gently floated down and clasped my wings together. i fell to the ground of the ship and my hooves hit the wood of the hull causing a loud clap. i looked over and smiled to see this was indeed the battalion we stole from the prison. the crew looked at me and they seemed angry. it must be the mask. they sheathed their weapons and drew closer.

"oi... get off or we'll kill ya." said one of the bandits. i reached for my mask and pulled it off revealing my face. the plating on my gear turned to ash and i looked at the crew. they seemed shocked to see me.

"put you're weapons down..." i said. they lowered their weapons but didn't sheath them. i put my mask back on and i transformed causing an even more drastic reaction from the bandits.

"aye... i'll have to thank ye' for saving us the trouble of finding ya." said a voice from across the ship. it was coming from behind the door to the captains quarters. the door swung open to reveal a pony who... he looked like a pirate in every imaginable way. he had a peg leg for his back left hoof. an eye patch and a pirates hat. he even had a freaking parrot. he even redecorated the blimps so the balloons had skulls painted on them.

"and who are you." i asked.

"i'm the feared captain dread hoof... foulest pirate there is in equestria. i was there when we broke out of the prison... i got on one of these ships and when you left i quickly took control." he said.

"a pirate huh..." i said. "haven't heard of many of those."

"and i can't remember the last time i saw a cowboy." he said. we glared at each other then burst out laughing. "welcome aboard mister scar." he said. "please... let us talk in my quarters." i smiled and walked over. he gestured me in first and came in after me closing the door behind him. "have a seat..." he said.

i walked over and took a seat on one of the chairs in the room. he walked over and took the seat on the other side of me. there was a nice wooden desk separating the two of us. he leaned back behind the desk and pull out two bottles of beer he pulled the corks off of both and handed me one. i smiled and grabbed it.

"it's only been about two days... but hows the pirating going so far?" i asked.

"arg..." he said. i can't believe he just said 'arg'... this guy is great. "nothing yet... these ships are very war heavy... they can stand their own in a fight... as for the loot, nothing yet."

"so you escaped with me in the prison... i didn't see you, everything was a blur of blood and bodies." i said.

"speaking of the prison..." said dread hoof. "i propose a toast." he said holding up his bear. "for escaping the cold embrace of death." he said. i held up my bottle too.

"reason enough for me." i said and we both taped bottles. i chugged down half of mine and he finished his. i took a breath and then finished the rest and let out a sigh of pleasure. "so you here to plunder the city or something." i asked kicking back and putting my hooves up.

"no... we're here for you, mister scar." he said, i let out a loud laugh.

"what?... miss me?" i asked.

"not exactly mister scar." he said getting up and pacing around. he looked out over to the window and stared outside for a few seconds. "you see if we want to be a respectable fleet of pirates we need loot..." he said. he turned his head over to me and glared at me with his one good eye. "and you mister scar... are worth several fortunes." i got up and all my happiness left me and was filled by doubt and rage.

"you're going to turn me in..." i said. "good luck killing me..." i said pulling out my axe and holding it tight in my hand.

"no no mister scar... we aren't killing you... we need you alive." he said.

"why?" i asked. "if you think i'm going to let you take me alive you're even crazier than i thought."

"well mister scar if we have you alive it makes it easier to get the reward from the princess... if you're dead well then what's going to make her give us the reward... she has what she needs and she doesn't care for us... hell she might just kill us all there... but, mister scar, if you're alive that gives us leverage." he said. i just glared at him in a crouched position like i'm ready to pounce holding my tomahawk. "we could always threaten to let you go and then she loses... see we need you alive if we want our fortune."

"well that's too bad..." i said.

"and why is that?"

"because you're going to have to kill me if you want a chance to drag me to canterlot." i said glaring more and more at the pirate.

"oh i know mr. scar... i know... i'm not some fool, i've planned this out." he said. i was about to ask him a question when i felt myself tense up. my eyes shrunk and i could start to see black spots popping up in front of my eyes... he poisoned me. i started growing faint and weak.

"you..." i said drunkenly. "i'll kill you."

"i think not mister scar." said dread hoof. he looked at me and smiled as i leaned over and hit the floor. my eyes grew heavy and soon they shut. and eventually i was surrounded in darkness. i tried my best to force myself awake but no matter how hard i tried it wouldn't work. i was a fool to trust somepony like him. i tried to yell but i couldn't even hear myself yelling.

my eyes flickered open and i was greeted by a gloomy dimly lit room. it wasn't even a room... it was a cage. an iron cage connected to the bottom and top floors with a mast pole sticking in the middle. the pole was a thick wooden pole that connected to the mast. and a mast of a war balloon like this is just pole that connects to the metal clamps around the balloon. and something more interesting was that i was fiercely tied to this pole. there was at least a foot thick layering of rope tying me to this pole... they didn't want to take chances.

i could hear the sounds of ponies laughing upstairs. there was no light coming from above me which either meant i was on the third level of the ship or i was out until night. once i saw a window and there was no light shining through it i was sure it was night. i could hear the trotting of hooves against the wood and muffled voices. from what words i could pick out they were celebrating my capture. i know i left the ship but still... these are my bandits, i feel like i've been mutinied. those traitorous bastards will all die.

i struggled for a while and tried to either break free of the ropes, which was not likely, or hope they did a horrible job of tying them and i could just wiggle out. after a few minutes of struggling i managed to loosen the grip of the rope a little bit... but it was still pretty tight. i shifted around a bit and something jabbed me in the side and i yelped in pain. i tried to see what it was and i saw i was still wearing my gear... all of it. it could have been anything that poked me.

why didn't those idiots take away my stuff... this is exactly how i got out last time. hmm... maybe it works like the mask. i just noticed i was still wearing the mask when i thought about it. i guess nothing can be take off of me while i wear this mask... except for my bags which were laying against a few barrels of gunpowder. but that makes sense since they aren't morphed like the rest of my gear... they were plain.

i struggled some more until i heard the close sound of hoofsteps. i looked over and the room was filled with the hollow sound of hooves hitting the wood of the ship. i saw a stallion walking down the stairs into the hull and over to my cage. i just looked at him and glared hatefully. he walked over and swung a key in his hoof. the walked over and unlocked the cage with the key. he was a short light brown stallion with a red doo rag and leather armour. he had a cutlass and a few daggers as well as a pouch of money. he walked over and pulled one of the daggers from his belt and held it up.

a tinge of fear struck over my heart and i was getting nervous. he loomed over and knelt down. i stared at him with hate and he looked at me. he held up the dagger and i got more and more nervous. with a clean sweep he brought the dagger down... and dug it deep into the ropes keeping me bound. i looked at him with surprise and curiosity and he quickly cut his way through the ropes and tossed them off... i was free. i stood up and i couldn't believe what just happened i looked at the kid and gave him a devilish smile.

"thank ya kindly kid..." i said tipping my hat. "now i don't have to kill ya."

"don't worry about it." he said. "when i heard they were going to turn you in i didn't want to be a part of it... so i planned to help you escape." he said.

"thanks a lot kiddo." i said. "now lets get to work." i said grabbing my tomahawk and holding it tight.

"where almost to canterlot..." he said. "i would just go now."

"i don't care if were two feet above canterlot... these bastards are going to die and i'll crash every ship into the fucking palace if i have to." i said.

"alright..." he said smiling. "i'm getting the fuck out of here before the fireworks start." he said spreading wings and going over to one of the cannon hatches. he opened it up and crawled out. he saluted me off and i tipped my hat to him... then he was gone. i'm not sure who that kid was but it's good to know i still have some kind of respect here. now to think of a plan.

i quietly trotted over to the stairs and slowly climbed up them. i peaked my head up and checked around nopony was here. i looked around and saw the ponies celebrating on the deck and drinking beer. i also noticed that i'm not on the same ship. i could see the other ships glowing in the dark of night from their lights. there were five ships... the main vessel which is twice as large as the rest... and the rest. i was in the back right vessel. before i went to move i saw i forgot my belongings... don't want to waste all that hard earned gold.

i quietly trotted back down the stairs and spotted out my bags. i walked over to them and picked them up. i fastened them to my armor and went to leave. before i left i looked back at the barrel they were leaning against. the barrel said: "gunpowder". i looked around and saw there were tons of these barrels. an evil smile quickly spread across my face... this was going to be awesome.

i grabbed the barrel and gently leaned it over onto its side. i pulled the cork out and the black gunpowder started pouring out onto the floor. i pushed it around a bit across the floor into a long line and gave myself a fuse. once i was good enough away i reached a hoof into one of my pockets... and pulled out some matches. i smiled again and lit the match. i tossed it onto the end of the gunpowder. then i ran like hell.

i rushed over to one of those cannon hatches the other pony left from and pushed it open. i jumped out and fell into the darkness of the night sky. i shot my wings out and recovered from the free fall. i turned over to look at the ships sailing away. i anticipated what would happen and i was smiling the whole time. i flew over to follow behind the ships so i don't miss it. i sat there and waited for a little bit. i think i might have used too much of a big fuse. i followed them for a little bit longer. dammit i hope it's not a dud... it wasn't.

after my last though the ship exploded once at the bow... then it only went worse from there. the first explosion was followed by a second, then a third. soon enough the sound of explosions and the crimson glare of fire filled the night sky. i flew over with a smile of victory. flying shappenel fired up from the ships hull into the balloon and it popped. the force of the air leaving caused the burning ship to ram into the one next to it.

the first ship grabbed onto the second one and lit it on fire. the first ship started dragging the second one to the ground with it and they ducked under the other three ships. once they were both under the other three ships the second ship exploded and started shooting off huge balls of fire. one of which fired straight up through the balloon and right under the hull on the ship to the far right... it just keeps getting better.

the raging ball of fire that fired up into the last ship to the right set off its kegs of gunpowder and it started blowing up too. the ship exploded violently and it shattered into pieces and destroyed the side of the last remaining ship besides the command ship. the last small ship was shoved over into the large ship and soon the small ship started combusting. before it could do any real damage to the large command vessel the balloon popped and it fell to the ground. the right side of the large command ship was on fire and almost completely gone. i smiled at my reign of destruction. the large ship was tilting a bit but straightened out and continued to fly... now that won't do.

i quickly flew over to the ship which was drastically losing speed. as i grew closer i could hear the terrified shouts and yelling of ponies as they tried to comprehend what just happened. they were pouring buckets of water on the fires as fast as they could. they were using their own drinking water to put out the fires. i flew over and landed on the hull of the ship smiling as the ship burned around me. i looked ahead to see captain dread hoof on top of the ship and the bridge next to the wheel looking at me with fire in his eyes... really i could see the burning ship in the reflection of his eyes.

"get him boys..." he yelled pointing at me. all of the crew looked over and saw me. they growled in anger and rushed over and circled around me. "kill him... kill him now."

"yeah boys... kill me." i said egging them on. one pony rushed at me with a cutlass and slashed at me. i parried it off and cut clean through the middle of his head. the top half of his head slid off and he dropped dead. all the blood that got on me and my tomahawk seemed to get absorbed into my gear. my gear glowed a bit then settled down. while i was distracted i didn't see the other pony come at me with an axe.

he rushed at me and i turned around. i didn't have time to react and he swung at me. his blade hit one of the metal plates on the side of my duster and it didn't do anything... i didn't even feel any pressure. his weapon just bounced off my armour and he slid back and growled at me. this mask is pretty awesome... but what happened next was better.

he glared at me then his eyes widened with some kind of realization. he yelled out in pain and clasped his hoof on his side. i looked at him like he was crazy. suddenly a few trickles of blood dripped from his hoof then it spread into a huge gash across his side. it's the same place he hit me. that's not possible... no way... this thing reflects magic and physical damage... that's so fucking badass... i'm an unstoppable king. he kept yelling out in pain while his buddies looked at him with fear.

"ahhh. what... ahhh how is that possible... oh celestia help me... gaaahhh." he yelled out writhing in pain on the ground bleeding profusely. i just smiled and rushed at the other ponies while they were distracted. i ran in between and few and started chopping away. i tripped one pony and on his way down cut his head off from the back with an uppercut. from there i brought my axe straight down on top of another ponies head. one pony hit me with a sword on the back but like what just happened i took no damage and a huge gash worked its way across his back and he fell in pain.

i turned to see a few other ponies. i grabbed my rope... well evil looking chain, and held it. i grabbed the handle and shot it out at one of the ponies. it fired out nicely and evenly with the pointed hook at the end of hit heading right for the pony. he went to back up and stood on his two back hooves... mistake. the hook at the end of the chain pierced his stomach and shot through his back. he clasped his gut in pain and went silent. i pulled hard on the chain and ripped the hook out along with his guts. his intestines spilled out onto the floor and he toppled over. i smiled and pulled the chain back and hilted it back onto my belt... it could be useful in a lot of other situations.

before i did anything else a huge boom shattered the air as part of the ship exploded next to me and rumbled the ship. the explosion killed four bandits in the blast and the shrapnel flying through the air killed another two and lit one pony on fire. this ship was coming down. i spread my wings and took off but before i could get far something grabbed my back hoof and held me down.

"oh no ya don't." said a voice... it was captain dread hoof. he pulled me back and slammed me against the ground. it hit the ground with a thud and let out a gasp as the air ran out of my lungs and i breathed deeply. i looked up to see him slashing down at me with a large large ornate cutlass. even though i had my reflective armor on my initial reaction was to hold up my tomahawk and block the strike. out weapons met in a clash of sparks and we were at a draw with both of our weapons pressing against each other. i was trying to push him away but it felt like he was trying to cut through my axe.

"it's over dread... there's no hope for you now... just leave and never come back." i said pushing my weapon closer to him. he pushed right back and we were even again. he was smiling while i was struggling.

"i don't think so..." he said. "a captain goes down with the ship... and i'll be sure you go down with her too..." he said smiling. i tried pushing back but he was strong and had me pinned down. we both had to keep both hooves on our weapons because we wouldn't be able to make it with one hoof. i pushed back but another explosion caught me off guard and he pushed down on me some more. he was winning now and i could force him back anymore. i was sweating from the heat of the fire and i could feel the ship start to sink and the temperature of the air outside was growing hotter than the air in the balloon.

i looked around for something i could use to turn the tides but there wasn't much... just fire... dead and burning bodies, and shrapnel... lots of shrapnel. i let out a fierce roar and pushed back some more and tied us again. i put in some more and and started pushing back against him. i managed to lighten his weight enough to push him back and get up onto my hooves. we stayed at it both showing our teeth and glaring evilly at each other.

as we pushed back and forth for what seemed like hours the ship was becoming less stable with the seconds. we were still falling but we were very high above cloud level and we were only dropping inches at a time. there was another explosion that shook the whole ship. i heard the cracking of wood and one of the iron clamps for the balloon came loose and fell to the ground. it hit the ship right behind dread hoof and fell straight through the ship. the ground behind him was almost gone and he didn't seem to notice. i smiled and he glared back at me.

"you wanna go down with the ship..." i said. "fine... see you at ground level." i said. i forced all my weight to the side and pushed his sword to the side out of his hands. i spun and and stabbed him in the stomach with the point on the back of my tomahawk. his eyes widened and the look of defeat spread across his face. he kept his hooves over his wound and i watched as he stumbled backwards. his hoof went over the open hole and with no solid ground to step on he fell. he fell right down through the hole and through the bottom of the ship. i watched as he fell into the night sky below and vanished. i let out a sigh of relief... but it's not over yet.

there was another explosion and the ship rumbled again. i stumbled back and a huge explosion erupted from the middle of the deck. it shot up to the balloon a popped it. shrapnel of all kinds flew across the ship as it quickly started to fall. i was pushed back by gravity against the wall of the captains quarters. i covered my face as flames and shrapnel flew up to me and hit me. a large portion of the ship exploded towards the front and i curled up in a ball and the large pieces of wood and metal bounced off of my armor.

i looked up just as a seven ton cannon flew past me and ripped through the captains quarters to my right. that could have been bad... not like its bad right now. i tried getting up and flying away but the force of falling was pushing me hard against the wall of the quarters. it was like i was stuck to the wall. i looked to see the cloud layer wash over the ship and everything came into view.

the bright castle in canterlot could be seen from here and below me seemed like an endless sea of darkness. as the ship grew closer i braced for impact and knew that this would hurt. i knew there was a good chance this would kill me but i was hoping that my armor could soak up the damage. i looked down as the endless darkness below soon showed itself to be a forest of some kind. i covered my face with my hooves and placed my tomahawk back at my side. the forest grew closer and closer.

and the moment i waited for... impact. the hull of the ship hit the ground and i was shot forward into a volley of shrapnel and a vortex of flames. there was a large explosion and the only thing i could see was fire everywhere. i couldn't even tell it i was falling anymore. a few bits of hard shrapnel hit me and it hurt... but my armor did soak up almost all the damage. it was only a matter of time until i hit the ground. and it was... only mere seconds after i felt a huge force press against my body and i yelled out in pain. i could feel myself hitting the wreckage of the ship below me and my body was constantly hit with feeling of pain coming from all sides as i rolled around and was thrown about. i couldn't see much past the blinding flames but in my line of sight i could see a black dot for a millisecond before it hit me in the head and knocked me out.

i'm pretty sure that i'm dead now...

-Authors Note: so the stories coming along pretty good on my end. i have 20 chapters written for this story... and that's it. I...*smashes head on keyboard*... cant...*smashes head into keyboard again*...find...*and again*... inspiration...*and again*... ive been blanking out all weekend... and Hasbro has the audacity to put off the new episode those bastards... i need my fix of ponies... without it i cant write... must...find...new...fix. if any of you guys know of any good ways to get a daily dose of ponies let me know. if not then i'll just go back to staring at my computer and run through reddit as much as i can before i burn a hole through my retina's... in the meantime, stay shady guys.-End of Note-


	9. Chapter 9: Back Inside The Fire

i was surrounded by darkness in what seemed like a dream. i was completely unaware of what was happening or what was going on... only the dark abyss in front of me. it was practically nothing. but it seemed like nothing was the only thing that existed to me. i couldn't hear, smell, feel, taste, or see... only darkness. it wasn't a specific thing more that it was everything. it just was... it existed in all aspects and that's all it did was exist. but soon other things came into the existence to accompany the dark.

the first thing that i felt was pain... horrible agonizing pain. along with other senses and feelings. it didn't help much, the other feelings were dulled out by the incredible pain i felt. it was everywhere... all over, covering me like a blanket. but soon it became more specific. it faded away and i could only feel pain in certain areas giving shape to the fact that i was whole and with a body... the next was sight.

even through the blinding and maddening pain i opened my eyes and with feeling and sight back that gave way to all the knowledge i needed. i remembered everything up to losing my memory about a month ago... at least i think that's how long it's been. my train of thought was cut off by a sudden jolt of continuous pain in my leg. i looked back to see there were bits and pieces of shrapnel jabbing into my body in places my masks metal reflective plates didn't cover. so there is a weakness to the physical reflection. the most prudent injury was a large metal pole jetting out the back of my leg. it went through the back and probably took out my knee.

i looked further and gazed upon the destruction of the ship i crashed into the forest. the entire front end of the ship was gone and scattered over the woods. the balloon had been shredded and the metal lining was mostly showing. there were pieces of the actual balloon hanging from all the trees. then the last half of the ship was on its side with the deck facing me. the bridge was half gone due to to cannon that flew by me before... and on top of that everything was on fire.

i was sprawled out in a dirt patch soaked in blood and littered with scraps of wood and leather from the balloon. there were a few fires nearby but i would be safe here. the forest around me was a blazing inferno as well as the ship itself. even though it was night the fires were large enough to simulate daylight. with another wave of pain washing over me i let out a strained and painstaking yell. i tried to pull myself forward but i could move, every time i did i got a bad pain in my leg. i looked back to see the metal pole in my leg was keeping me down... it must be dug into the ground. i couldn't slide my leg off because it stood up at least three feet.

i tried turning around to grab it but it was hard since i was on my stomach . i finally managed to get a grip on it but the position i was in was twisting me all around and it was painful. i held the pole and tried pulling it out of the ground. it slowly started slipping out of the ground but i was also sliding out of my wound which was incredibly painful. i kept pulling it out of the ground with all my strength but it was taking forever. soon the ground let go and i ripped it out of the dirt along with out of my leg. i let out a yell of pain and threw the metal pole across the forest in anger. i flipped over onto my back but stopped when i felt a few pieces of something stabbing into my back when they touched the dirt.

i pulled back over and looked back. i had a chunk of wood sticking out of my back between two metal plates. there was another chunk of wood stabbing into my back near the base of my wing. i grabbed them both and let out a yell of pain as i pulled them both out with some effort. i went around and pulled huge splinters of wood from every place on my body. each time i would angrily throw them into the fires of the forest. with all them gone i laid back and writhed in pain. i looked around and i still had all my gear holstered to me... that's nice.

without hesitation i thought of a plan. i quickly opened up my bag and rummaged through it. i remember getting some medicine and potions and shit. i looked through and found a bottle of vodka. this stuff was 68% alcohol... holy shit. i popped the top off and started pouring it on my wounds. the stinging made me wail in pain but i got through it. i also took one drink as a substitute painkiller. i corked it and put it back in the bad. i kept rummaging through my bag and found a cluster of potions. i ran through them and grabbed a red one that i was guessing is a health potion.

i picked it up and frantically turned it over to see the label. "rapid healing potion." said a neatly written label. i quickly popped the top off and downed the whole bottle. it almost made me throw up but i kept it down. i threw the bottle away behind me and looked for anything else. but there was nothing. i sat there and excitedly waited for the potion to heal me... but as time went by and nothing happened i started getting angry. i started bursting out in a fit of rage and started cursing random ponies and things. when i tired myself out i fell back onto the ground.

i could already feel the blood loss getting to me. i looked over myself and checked out my bleeding wounds... but they weren't bleeding anymore. i let out the greatest sigh of relief and laid back with some sort of hope coming back to me. i just hope the fire doesn't get over here because i just poured half that bottle of vodka over my body and i'm like a match thrown in a fire. i laid back and kept writhing in pain from the cuts and wounds. they weren't bleeding but they were still hurting like a bitch.

well it could have been worse. if i didn't have this armor i would probably be dead now... hell i would have died before the ship crashed. i should be lucky... but i need to think. i have yet to try and get out of here or even stand up, and since i'm trapped in a ring of fire there's nowhere to go. all around me the forest was burning while i was laying in a dirt patch at least 10 yards from the shipwreck. the dirt patch i was in so it gave me some relief from the burning hot fire. but even though the fire was more than the ships length away i could still feel the heat licking up against me.

i did find peace in looking up into the night sky and gazing at the stars. the cool night air would wash over me every few seconds and it was relaxing. like a cool breeze on a warm autumn day. it was almost peaceful. the fires roaring and flickering around me giving me. both the heat of the fire and the coolness of the night were both fighting to claim my body. the cold dirt ground i laid on was almost comforting. the fire added nice lighting like it was daytime and night all at once.

the only thing throwing this off was the putrid smell of burning corpses and the unbelievable pain that i'm in right now. i looked over to the distance to see three other smoke stalks were the other ships must have crashed. the whole battle didn't cover much distance. though from what i can tell this ship got the furthest from the others since it held on the longest. the other wreckage sites seemed relatively close to each other. i'd like to imagine they both share the same scenery as this one... this is one unlucky forest.

i laid my had back down onto the dirt and looked up trying to ignore the pain but it was difficult. i looked back from the night sky and looked over to the burning wreckage of the ship. the flames and spark were almost mesmerizing and i could stop myself from staring. though as i stared longer and longer i began to notice the horror of the wreckage. i could see burning limbs and charred bodies thrown around. i was so engulfed in the beauty around me i forgot about the horrible and gruesome death.

something i found more disturbing was that there were bodies all around. burnt or mutilated bodies also laid still in this patch of dirt with me. i'm almost scared to admit that i hadn't noticed them before even though i clearly had taken in my surroundings. i looked around and there would be a body every few yards or so. they just laid there and soaked up the dirt with their blood. i recognized some of them from the fight on the ship. come to think of it... i can remember almost everypony i ever killed in perfect detail since the day i lost my memory. it's a bit scary.

i could feel myself getting even dizzier than before and i couldn't keep my head up. i laid it back down and everything started shaking and spinning around me. though i wasn't bleeding anymore i still lost a lot of blood. that means its carrying less oxygen to my brain. now i'm going to pass out from oxygen deprivation... great. everything kept spinning and i started slipping in and out of consciousness. i tried to stay awake but it was no use as i closed my eyes and dozed off.

like before i was covered in black nothingness. only this time i felt aware of my body. i could feel everything around me. the ground, the hot fire, the cool night... and the pain. it was like i was lucid dreaming but i had nowhere to go and it was almost real. but soon the heat stopped wrapping around my body and the once refreshing night cold became frigid and unfeeling. it was like torture and it seemed that way for hours until it started slowly fading over a few hours. then i could feel a soothing warmth wrap itself around my body. it wasn't the heat of fire... but something more beautiful.

i woke up and became whole again and not just some spirit in a void of darkness. i slowly opened my eyes only to be blinded by the sun high up in the sky. i grit my teeth in pain while i closed and covered my eyes. i turned away and opened my eyes to see the forest. the once blazing inferno was not just a field of tall burnt trees. and the wreckage was charred black and looked like it could collapse in on itself at any given moment. there were some small spots of fire here and there but it must have died out last night.

i removed my hoof from my face and let the sun hit me. i had to blink and close my eyes a few times but my eyes finally adjusted to the light. i went to rub my eyes but my mask was blocking me from doing so. i grabbed it and pulled it off as the metal on my armour turned to ash and vanished. i rubbed my eyes and held the mask. i felt like i should put it back on but for some reason i just tied it down to my belt for some other time. i laid back and turned my head away from the blinding light of the sun and looked off into the forest... the charred and ashen forest.

there were some spots of life were the fires didn't get to. the tops of the trees were burnt and very few had any leaves left. there were a lot of bushes and tall plants running along the ground that didn't seem to get hit that bad. there were some smaller younger trees that survived pretty well and tried their best to cover up the burnt face of the forest but it wasn't helping too much despite that there were a lot of them. they covered the bottom of the forest but the tops of the charred trees loomed over the small young trees. even the young trees were missing patches of leaves and had large scorch marks scarring their trunks.

"sweet celestia how could this have happened?" said a voice coming from behind me out of my view. i was shocked to hear other voices. i was in shock but all the while excited to be saved. i wanted to shout out but i couldn't... i couldn't think of what to say. although 'help' would have been a good thing to say... i just froze up and remained silent.

"you don't think it was a dragon in here." said a faint voice. please don't let there be dragons in the forest. i could hear hoofsteps and the voices getting closer.

"what the hell is this?" said a third voice. i managed to turn my body a bit to look where they were coming from. past the burnt trees and bushes i could barely make out three mares walk through into the dirt clearing... and one of them was an unsettling image. one of the mares was miss twilight... from a long time ago... she won't be happy to see me. with her where two pegasus. one was yellow with long pink hair and the other was cyan with a ragged rainbow mane.

as they entered the clearing their jaws dropped to the dirt ground as they noticed the wreckage. the next thing they saw...bodies...everywhere. the scent of burning flesh was gone now but the sight was just as bad. the yellow pegasus almost threw up and quickly bolted back into the woods. the other two were equally as shocked but they turned to stop her with no results.

" Fluttershy!... wait." yelled the rainbow maned pegasus flying after her. twilight however used her magic to stop her.

"let her go..." she said. "it's better that she doesn't see any of this."

"alright... do you think any of them survived?" asked the pegasus looking back over the graveyard of bodies.

"it doesn't look like it." said twilight. i needed a way to get out of here and i needed one now... they have to know i'm here. but i'll keep my hoof close to my mask incase i need armor. so i took a deep breath and let out a painful moan. "what was that?" said twilight looking around.

i let out another moan of pain and flopped onto my stomach. i pulled my hooves close to my chest and painfully pushed myself up off the ground in a pushup like position. next i brought my legs in and soon i was on my knees. i slowly clamored my way back up and kept my head down hiding my face under my hat. that was harder than i thought it would be... i felt like i could collapse at any second. i let out a grunt of pain and almost fell over as i felt something snap in my chest. i could feel and taste a bit of blood starting to rush into my mouth from my throat... that's not good. i quickly spit it out onto the ground.

"look." said the rainbow pegasus. "he's alive."

"wait a second." said miss sparkle. i coughed up a bit more blood and slowly lifted my head up. i looked up and i met their faces. the rainbow pegasus seemed unphased but twilight's mood drastically changed. she looked at me with fear but she had hatred and anger dwelling inside of her. its like she wanted to hit me but she can't.

"hey are you alright?" said the rainbow pegasus flying over.

"dash stop." said miss sparkle. "don't go near him."

"what... are you crazy... he'll die." said the pegasus... dash i think it was. "we have to help him." said dash.

"no let him die." said twilight.

"what?" said dash looking back at her friend with confusion and surprise. "what's wrong with you?"

"please... help." i said slowly and painfully shambling forward and sputtering up more blood.

"thats the guy who broke into my house and tied me up... dash that's scar." she said pointing at me. dash looked over at me and examined me. when her face met mine she saw me and filled with fear and then into hatred.

"scar... what makes you think we'll help you." said dash with a change of heart now.

"please... i need..." i paused to cough up more blood. "i need... help." i said still dragging myself forward.

"get back..." said twilight. her horn glowed and i quickly went for my mask but my body was surrounded by purple aura and i lifted into the air. she threw me back and i hit the ground and rolled over further than i was to begin with. i let out a moan of pain and went to stand back up. i got onto my hooves and the rainbow pegasus flew over.

"and stay down too." she said flying over and kicking me in the side as hard as she could. i let out a loud yell of pain as i could feel a few of my ribs snap and jab into my other organs. i was in severe pain. i fell on my stomach and tried to pull myself up but i felt something coming up my throat. i coughed and threw up a pool of blood onto the ground... i looked at the blood in absolute fear and fell down face first into my own blood. i turned over onto my back and closed my eyes. i only had them closed for a second before i saw dash and miss sparkle standing over me with hatred in their eyes.

"it doesn't feel good does it..." said twilight. "now you know the pain you've caused others."

"and i hope you suffer a punishment 100 times worse than this in hell." said dash. i reached down for my mask in one final hope of salvation. just one last thing i did in hopes it would save my life. i grabbed my mask and pulled it off my belt. dash and twilight didn't seem to notice.

"now you know what it's like to be scared and helpless." said twilight. i slowly brought my mask over and dash noticed it.

"what the hell is that..." she said kicking me again. i grit my teeth in pain and kept pulling the mask closer. twilight looked at it and she instantly filled with fear... that was a good sign.

"no don't let him..." too late. i quickly pushed the mask against my face and the two mares were shot away by a blast of red and black fire that seemed to engulf the entire field. i felt strength returning to me and i stood right up and yelled out in pain as i could hear my bones setting and healing in my body. i could feel myself getting stronger and stronger and soon the fire faded leaving me standing there with my metal plated armor on now. it glowed a deep bright red that was almost blinding. i looked around and i saw that all the blood that once soaked up the field was now gone... and if i had to guess... it was absorbed into my armor... so i guess this stuff reflects damage and grows more powerful every time i shed blood... awesome.

the fact that i was at full health now and feeling better than ever made me laugh loudly in the open space. it's more funny because the tables have also turned on twilight and her friend. with my energy and strength back coupled with this mask... she and her friend can't touch me. i almost feel sorry that she will once again find herself in a position of helplessness. i looked over to see the pegasus mare laying near the wreckage rubbing her head. i started walking over to her and she saw me. at the first sight of me she was filled with fear and tried backing away.

"no..." she said. "you stay away from me." i just started laughing again as i had grown only a few feet from her. she kept backing away only to hit the side of the ship and be halted. i walked over and was now looming over her with my evil glowing red eyes and armor. "please don't... i have two kids." she said. i slammed my hoof into the side of the ship next to her and almost broke through. i brought my face closer to her and smiled.

"when somepony asks for help, you don't kick them in the ribs." i said looking at her. she was pushing as hard as she could against the boat like she could just back up through it. i put my hoof out and grabbed her neck and held her close to me. she started choking and brought both hooves up to loosen my grip. as she brought her hooves up i swiped one hoof at the side of her chest and under the thud of the punch i could hear a few of her ribs crack and shatter. she let out a scream of pain and i threw her behind me and she fell to the floor. i started walking over to her and placed my hoof on her head forcing her face into the dirt... i was really angry now.

"you leave her alone." said twilight standing up with her horn glowing. she let her horn glow brighter and the purple aura from before circled around me. it made a roar and turned to red static looking magic. soon the same happened on her horn like with the bare mare and she was pushed back by her own magic.

"nice try... you're magic can't touch me." i said.

"i guess not..." she said getting back up and her horn started glowing again. "but this can." she said. i felt a large pressure hit my side. it was a bolder bigger than i was. i hit me on the side and just broke apart around me. i stood there completely unphased and twilight looked at me with confusion.

"what?" she said. i turned my head from the right were i was hit by the bolder back to miss sparkle.

"you shouldn't have done that." i said. next thing she knew an invisible force pushed her from her side and the air filled with a crack and she screamed in pain. i started walking over and she laid on the ground writhing in pain and crying out. soon i stood above her and she looked at me in pain. it would be so easy for me to step on her head and break it apart... but i'm not going to do that. "alright miss sparkle..." i said. "i think you and you're friend have learned you're lessons." i said.

i reached down to her and tried to pick her up. she squirmed and tried to get away put it picked her up and tossed her onto my back. i walked over to the pegasus who was lying with her eyes closed tightly and her hooves clasping her chest. her wings looked pretty beat up too. i picked her up and threw her onto my back too. they were both heavy but it didn't matter much. i started walking forward and left the opening and into the charred forest.

"what are you doing... put me down." said twilight.

"so you'd rather i leave you stranded in the forest with serious injuries."

"where are you taking us..." she said.

"ponyville..." i replied.

"why... why do you care about us... you're just a monster." she said.

"that might be true... but i want you to know that this monster could have killed you in a few seconds... but instead chose to save you're lives."

"yeah after you beat us up." she said.

"i beat up you're friend only because she broke my ribs..." i said. "i never laid a hoof on you." i said thinking of how deliciously ironic reflecting her magic at her was.

"why do you care about saving us." she asked.

"because it's a pretty nice thing to hold over somepony's head." i replied with a devious smile. she just grunted and glared at me.

"i swear i'll see you dead." said twilight. as we walked through the woods i started to notice the wildlife flourishing and the burnt trees growing fewer and with smaller burns. we were heading out of the burn area.

"i don't think so miss sparkle..." i said. "you see i am aware of you're ties with the princess... so when we get back to ponyville you're gonna get me a new ship seeing as mine has crashed." by now all the burns and marks from the fire were gone and the forest was lush and green again.

"or what?" asked twilight.

"do you really have to ask that question?" i said.

"if you hurt anypony i'll have the princess drop the entire royal guard onto you're head." said twilight. i just laughed.

"then do what i ask... even if she brings an army you saw it yourself... nothing can touch me and every kill keeps me alive and makes me stronger." i said. "and it would be a while for the army to get to ponyville miss sparkle... a lot can happen in just a few minutes alone."

"how can you live with yourself." said twilight yelling at me now.

"easy..." i said. "i take what i want... and if anypony tries to stop me i deal with it." we kept walking and soon the forest broke out into a field and i could see we were in town. we were at the park and i could already see twilight's house from here it was on top of a hill. i looked back to see the pegasus was out cold from the pain. "now miss sparkle if you scream for help or cause a panic... there will be blood... and yours will be the last." i said. fear struck through her and i started walking into the town.

we walked down the street and i could see that not crying out was killing twilight. any ponies that saw me looked at me as a hero for rescuing these two mares who were clearly injured. i only got smiled and friendly gestures and it was killing miss sparkle. she wanted to shout out but she knew i wasn't lying when i said there would be blood. luckily for her it wasn't long until we reached her house. i tried to knob and it swung open.

i walked in and closed the door behind me and looked into the room. i stared in to see two other ponies inside. a cow girl with orange fur and blonde hair with a knot at the end. the other was a unicorn with perfect white fur and silky and curly hair. they both looked at us in surprise and curiosity. twilight looked at these ponies knowing as well as i they just got caught in her situation.

"oh my dear... what happened." asked the white unicorn.

"rarity... applejack run." said twilight... wrong move twilight. i quickly tossed twilight and her friend off my back and she fell to the floor with her unconscious friend laying on top of her.

"what's in tarnation is going on here." asked the cowgirl. "who the heck is this."

"just run..." twilight yelled.

"run?" asked the unicorn. "why would we run."

"its scar..."she yelled out. i reached down for my chain rope.

"scar... why you yellow bellied son of a bitch... i'll show you a thing or two." said the cowgirl. the unicorn just backed up in fear. the cowgirl ran at me but i shot my chain out and it wrapped around the top half of all four of her hooves. i pulled and they closed together and she hit the ground.

"hello ladies... nice to meet you... now miss twilight do me a favor and get some rope." i said to twilight who is now up from under her friend.

"i don't have any rope." said twilight.

"thats fine... these two aren't necessary... doesn't matter if they're tied up or dead... either way they aren't moving." i said. i started pulling on the chain and it tightend around the cowgirls legs. she yelled in pain as the blades on the top half of the chain started cutting into her legs and i pulled harder. there was blood leaking from her legs and dripping onto the ground.

"no wait..." said twilight. "stop please... there's some rope in the basement." she said lowering her head in defeat. i knew she had been lying to me. i loosened the grip on the chain and the cowgirl stopped yelling and just laid there in pain. i watched twilight walk over to a door near the back and open it up. i looked over to make sure it wasn't a back door but i could see from the walls and stairs it lead to the basement.

"i swear when i get my hooves on you i'll...i'll." said the cowgirl

"you'll what... bleed on me." i said glaring at her. it wasn't long until i head twilight walking back up the stairs with a few bundles of rope... more than enough.

"theres you're damn rope." she said throwing it on the ground.

"great... now tie up you're friends." i said.

"no... i'm not doing that." she said. "you can do it..."

"i can't..." i said. "i need to make sure nopony runs... but if you don't want to there's always option two." i said pulling on the chain a bit and making the cowgirl wince and grit her teeth in pain.

"alright alright..." said twilight. "i'll do it." hanging her head once more in defeat. i watched her walk over to the white unicorn and they both looked at each other. twilight wrapped her in rope and tied her up. next she tied up the cowgirl who i released. she was a bit hesitant but twilight managed to calm her down. then she tied up her still unconscious friend. i walked over and made sure the knots were tight and secure... everything checked out.

"there... see that wasn't so hard..." i said.

"you're a monster." said the white unicorn. i smiled and rubbed my hoof under her chin and she winced away.

"oh darling you're going to have to think of something better... i've heard that one before." i said.

"you sick putrid boot licking fuck." said the cow girl.

"see something like." that i said to the white mare. i turned from her and brought the hoof under her chin and socked the cowgirl across the face and she grunted in pain. "no shut up..." i said. "any funny business and i start collecting heads... and i've got no problem with that."

"just tell us what you want." said twilight.

"first check to see if that one's still alive." i said pointing to the pegasus. "don't need casualties too soon." i said. twilight walked over to her friend and examined her while i walked to the door and locked it.

"she's fine..." said twilight. "just a few cracked ribs."

"good..." i said. "now one important thing to you unicorns..." i said grabbing my tomahawk and pointing at the white mare and twilight. "if i see hear or smell any magic... both of you're horns are coming off... i don't give a damn who it was... both horns will be mine." i said. "and if you scream i'll take everyponies tongues..." i said. "that goes for all of you... any funny business and everypony pays... got it." the cowgirl glared at me, the pegasus was unconscious, twilight glared at me too, and the other one looked like she was going to cry. "and like hell i'm going to let you start crying..." i said. almost instantly she sucked her tears back up.

"what do you want..." asked twilight.

"i want you to write you're to you're princess that i require a ship... tell her that if she does anything funny ponyville burns. i'm also going to need a three month supply of food and water" i said. twilight walked over to her desk and started writing a note on the table. when she was done she rolled it up. and sealed it.

"i need spike if i want to send this." she said.

"who the hell is spike and why do you need him to send a note... draggin more ponies into this only makes it worse." i said.

"he is not a pony he's a dragon and his fire sends these scrolls to celestia." she said. i thought back and i remembered the day i broke in here... the little green dragon i tethered to the window. i burst out laughing.

"that runt... you need him." i said laughing some more. "that runts pretty funny with his false bravery...you have an hour and hope he gets here." i said. "after an hour i tie everypony up and get him myself." i said.

"fine and while you're gone me and rarity will use our magic to get away." she said. i thought for a second.

"thank you for reminding me miss sparkle. i reached into my bag and pulled out the two magic cancelling rings i picked up from the prison... i've actually got quite a few. "won't have to worry about that now..." i said. i walked over to the white mare and tried putting the ring on her but she struggled. i grabbed her horn and slipped it on and locked it tight. "you know what to do." i said to twilight. she looked at me with anger but lowered her head and i slipped the ring on it and locked it.

"i hate you so much." said twilight.

"oh twilight... don't say that, you might make me cry." i said. i started laughing when the cowgirl spoke up.

"i'm going to kick you're fucking face in." she said.

"oh you want to kick me in the face." i said. i walked over and got on the floor. "go ahead... kick away." i said bringing my face close to her hooves. she winded them back and got ready to buck.

"applejack wait." said twilight, but it was too late. the cowgirl bucket her hooves out and they hit me in the face. they bounced off my mask like she had just kicked a wall and an invisible force hit her in the face and pushed her head back into the ground with a loud crack and a thud as her head hit the floor. she yelled out in pain and her nose started bleeding.

"and how did that feel." i said standing back up. "would you like another crack at it?" i asked with dark sarcasm. she just moaned in pain and grit her teeth. "didn't think so... now shut up before i'm the one who starts kicking." i was about to speak up when there was a knock at the door. i pulled the three mares away and tossed them out of sight into the kitchen. "twilight answer the door... anything fishy... and whoever's out there dies... along with one of you're friends here." i said. she glared at me and i ducked into the kitchen keeping out of view. she walked over to the door and opened it up.

"hey twilight." said a familiar voice. "how are you holding up?"

"oh hey..." said twilight putting on a convincing fake smile. "yeah i'm fine... thanks for checking on me thunder." she said... that name... thunder rush... that fucking asshole. i wide and evil smile spread across my face.

"oh twilight why don't you invite you're guest inside." i said from the kitchen. twilight seemed to freeze.

"who's that." asked thunder

"uhmm... an old friend." she said. "i think he's right... you should come on in." she said. he walked inside and looked around and i walked from the kitchen. and stepped into the room thunder looked over and set his gaze on me.

"hello there thunder rush... remember me." i said.

"no... you do look familiar though..." he said.

"what you don't remember me... thunder rush i'm hurt... after all you introduced me to ponyville... helped me get around... even set me up with a nice suite in the canterlot dungeons." i said raising my voice. his eyes narrowed and he growled.

"SCAR!" he yelled. i just laughed.

"there it is..." i said. "miss me... i know twilight has." i said with an evil smile.

"this time i'll kill you." he said roaring.

"thunder no wait..." said twilight trying to warn him about my armors abilities but like the others, nopony listens to poor twilight. his horn glowed and a large spear pulled itself from the wooden floor and floated in the air. he let out a cry and shot it forward at me. it hit my upper right leg and shattered on the metal plate.

"you ponies always fall for that." i said.

"fall for wha-AAGHH." he yelled out as the gap the spear would have made in my leg now opened up in his leg and he started bleeding. it must have passed through because a gap opened up in his lower back leg too and he fell to the ground. "ahhh oh god..." he shouted.

"i don't know what god you want help from but they're not going to help you now." i said. i walked over and stood above him. "now i'm going to let you make another move... chose carefully." i said. he glared at me and looked around.

"what are you doing in ponyville." he said... it was more like a demand.

"well my dear friend..." i said angrily as i mentioned him as a friend. "i was on my merry way in the city of manehattan... when i should see a fleet of naval vessels. vessels that i used to escape from the dungeons with... but you know that. so apparently the fleet was being run by dread hoof. he thought he was being smart by capturing me alive to collect the reward on my head... he wasn't. i escaped my puny little cell and destroyed the entire fleet and killed captain dread. i crashed in the woods by the park last night... now i'm here." i said. "now that story time is over you still have a move to make."

i smiled and back up from him giving him some room. he looked at me and growled. his horn lit up again and he started pulling energy from the air. i just stood there and smiled. he let out a roar and fired a beam of energy at me. the beam hit my armor and seemed to just absorb it. once he was done firing my body was glowing blue... then it went to a static red and fired a bolt of lightning from my body to him reflecting his blast and hitting him. he got struck with the jolt and yelled out in pain as red static energy covered his body and put him in literal shock. a few sparks managed to fly out and hit random objects in the room but nothing else. when it was done his armor was charred and he was smoking from the blast. it had enough force to throw him against the wall.

"wrong move." i said. he laid across the room laying limp. most of me was hoping he was dead but part of me thought he would make a good hostage.

"thunder." said twilight rushing over to him. she walked over and took off all his armor and it clanged to the ground beside him. she checked his pulse and his breathing. she let out a sigh of relief. "you almost killed him." she said.

"you say that like i should care." i said. "but since he's not dead you get to tie him up and throw his armor in the corner." i said. she glared at me. she knew if she defied me i would threaten to kill somepony and she knew that i would do it too.

"fine..." she said. "you better hope that the princess doesn't see to this herself." said twilight.

"and what will she do if i keep a blade to the neck of her most faithful student." i said mocking her with a taunting voice. she glared at me. "oh and not to mention the holder of the element of magic." i said remembering that part too. "can't have you dying with a title that important." she just glared at me and grabbed some rope and started tying up thunder rush. when she was done i walked over and checked the knot and tie. when it checked out i walked back into the kitchen and grabbed the others. i tossed them in here and they just kept their heads down. "now... if i'm not mistaken you have roughly around 40 minutes for you're purple friend to get here or i go hunting for him.

"why not just go look for him now." said twilight.

"that is a good point... but it's fun sitting here and tormenting you ponies." i said.

"it's more like torture." said the white unicorn looking at the ground.

"what was that." i asked sarcastically even though i heard her.

"i said this is like torture... just let us go." she said louder now and looking me in the eye.

"oh... it's torture huh... and what would you say if i dragged you to the basement and started slowly cutting you're arms and legs in thin layers one at a time... what would that be?" i asked she stayed quiet as the image and maybe the feeling and fear of pain ran through her head. "or you know we could always head upstairs and i can find a more desirable way of making you scream." i said. she blushed and almost started crying again but she sucked it up and looked away.

"you're a monster." said twilight.

"yes i know miss sparkle we've been over this... now either say something interesting or shut you're face." i said. "you ponies remember that it could be more worse than you think it is."

they all stayed silent and looked away in fear and helplessness i stood in the corner axe in hand and watched them. thunder rush and the rainbow maned pegasus were both still out cold and the hour twilight had before had dwindled down to almost a minute. and soon after i called it up.

"well miss sparkle." i said. "times up... time to go hunting." i said. i walked over to twilight with a rope in my hooves and she backed up in fear. but before i could tie her up the door knob jiggled a bit and there was a knock on the door. i put the rope down and glared at twilight and her friends. i walked over and looked through the peep hole. i didn't see anypony. i looked down to see a small purple dragon with green spikes. "well miss sparkle you're a very lucky mare." i said.

"twilight... are you in there... the doors locked." said the dragon. i unlocked the door and opened it up hiding behind the door itself. "thanks twi so what's..." he paused when he saw everypony tied up and a few bleeding. he was inside far enough that i kicked him out into the middle of the room and closed the door and locked it. "what... what's going on here."

"sup twerp." i said getting his attention. he looked back and saw me and his eyes shrunk inside his head. "miss me."

"no... not you again... what do you want, leave us alone." he said.

"chill runt... you've got the easiest job." i said. he looked around in fear and terror and looked over to twilight. he hoped she would give him some kind of reassurance but she couldn't help him. there was no hope, no prayer, and no chances... in here, what i say goes. "now miss sparkle please let spike know what to do." i said.

"spike i need you to send this letter." said twilight. spike looked at the letter and a bit of false courage welled up inside him.

"no... i'm not doing that... you can go to hell." he said pointing at me. i smiled but raised an eyebrow at the dragon. despite the situation he's in he still has some kind of wanton courage.

"spike please just do it." said twilight.

"no... i'm the only one who can send it... so if he wants to get a letter to canterlot he can walk there." he said crossing his arms and turning away.

"so you don't care if you die." i said sheathing my sword and holding up to him with the point pressing against his chest. i used my sword because its more threatening. he got a bit nervous but sucked it down.

"i don't care... you won't kill me." he said. i pulled the blade up and walked over to twilight and held it up to her she backed away in fear and her eyes shrunk.

"and how about if i gut her instead of you..." i said. he remained strong. i went over to the cowgirl and held the blade to her neck. she just glared at me and struggled. "how about her... he remained strong still... stubborn little fuck. next i went over to the white unicorn and held the blade up to her cheek. she a quiet shriek and started sweating.

"you don't touch her..." said the dragon with a new found anger.

"huh..." i said curious as to why he was so defensive of this one. i looked at him and he was blushing. "oh... you've got the hots for this one..." i said. he blushed even more. "it would be a shame if you never saw her again."i said running the edge of the blade down the mares cheek causing it to cut her a bit. she let out a shriek and started whimpering.

"i said don't touch her." said spike.

"you know it's been awhile since i had my way with a mare like this... i love the way they scream." i said pressuring him even more

"spike don't do it." said the mare.

"don't touch her." he said.

"send the letter... and nopony gets hurt spike..." i said. "i don't give a damn about these ponies and you're misguided bravery and jackass stubbornness is only bringing them closer to dying. he frantically panned around the room and he was sweating now. he looked at me and i smiled at him with a sadistic smile. he let out a sigh of defeat and slouched over.

"fine...i'll do it." he said.

"smart kid." i said. he walked over to twilight and grabbed the note. he breathed on it with fire and the note burnt into bust and flew out the window and made its way to canterlot. i was a bit confused first but then again it's fucking magic... its always going to be confusing. i got up and let the unicorn drop to the ground. she had a few tears falling from her face but i let it go. i walked over to spike and smiled at him evilly.

"your..." i stopped him there.

"yeah i know, i'm a monster, blah blah shut the fuck up and go sit in the corner..." i said pointing to the corner. "if you move i'll cut off you're stubby little feet." i said . he walked over and sat down in the corner and crawled up in a ball. before i knew it there was a green flash in the room and i pulled out my tomahawk and looked around. i looked over to see a note on twilight's desk. i relaxed and loosened my grip on the axe. twilight walked over and unfolded the note.

"what does it say?" i asked.

"she'll be here with what you want in half an hour." said twilight.

"holy damn... the mutherfucking princess herself is gointo grace us with her presence." i said mocking twilight.

"i hope you get what's coming to you." she said.

"well sorry to disappoint you but the only thing coming to me is a brand new ship and apparently the princess..." i said. she sat there in silence and we all waited patiently. the feelings of dread, sorrow, hopelessness, and fear were heavy in the air. they made the air thick with a feeling close to that of death. i just smiled at my small position of power and knew i had everything under control. though i should account for the fact should i run into trouble while i make my way out of equestria.

she could have my little ship bombed or attacked by a fleet of warships. or she could have poisoned the food and water supply. or it could be rigged to explode or something, i don't know. what i do know is that my paranoia is acting up and it has a good reason to. i thought for a few minutes on how i can avoid this negative outcome and as my eyes panned across the room i was struck with the perfect idea. before i knew it there was a knock at the door. this was it... time to put my 'plan' into use and hope it works... which i'm sure it will.

i stood up and everypony looked over to the door. i walked over and opened it up. and sure enough there she was... the mutherfucking princess of the sun n' all that shit. she looked down and when she saw me smiling she looked at me with disgust and hatred. she back up and i saw outside a large ship floating in the air like my last one. it had a ladder tossed down to climb up it.

"i've brought you're ship." she said. i could see this was hurting her on the inside. i looked back up at the ship and i could see a spear flicker up and duck back down in the corner of my eye... there were guards on the ship. time to execute my plan i walked back inside and put my hoof on my chain.

"thanks princess." i said. "and thank you everypony." i said looking back at the ponies. "especially you miss sparkle... in fact you've been so good... i think i'll take you with me." i said lashing out the chain which wrapped around her and i pulled her over to me and grabbed her.

"that wasn't part of the deal scar." said the princess glaring at me with hatred as i walked outside.

"yes i know... i said i'd let everypony go if i got a ship with 3 months of food and water... but you know... i don't remember asking for the battalion of guards." i said smiling.

"damn you." she said. she looked at me with anger and i just smiled as i held twilight in my chain death grip. she was gritting her teeth in pain as the razors were starting to cut into her but she'll be fine... for now. "guards..." the princess yelled out. "abandon post." she said. i looked up to see a bunch of guards shimmy down on ropes, teleport, or fly down and surround us. i also noticed the entire town was here too to see my big get away.

"there we go... see not to hard." i said backing up to the ladder.

"now let twilight sparkle go." she yelled...i could tell she really wanted me dead.

"i'm afraid i can't do that." i said throwing twilight over my shoulders. "you see there's still the chance something could go awry in my little trip... and twilight here is going to help make sure that doesn't happen." i said slowly making my way up the ladder completely forgetting i have wings. "but don't worry yourself princess..." i said. "i'll drop her off once i'm nice and safe past the borders of equestria." i said. i climbed up and i was near the top of the later. "let this be known as the day that scar... the bandit king, left his mark on equestria."

i threw twilight up onto the ship and she grunted as she made a thud on the wood hull. i climbed over and hopped onto the hull next to her. i started pulling up the ladder and she cried out for help... but there was no help. i pulled the ladder all the way up and set it down. i walked over to the controls and started the ship up. i fired hot air into the balloon and we started rising and moving forward and soon... we were gone.

gone with the wind...

-Authors Note: you know that little jingle from 'price-line negotiator'?... all i can do is imagine that but instead of 'price-line negotiator' it's 'hostage negotiations'... yay hostages. i'm giving you a heads up... this is now going from southern cowboys, to pirates and the open sky... it's going to be awesome... i always wanted to do something with pirates... so i did. i understand some of you guys might hate me for abusing and hurting the mane six... well suck it up... it only gets worse from here... back to the keyboard to write moar... and while i'm doing that i need you guys to stay shady.-End of Note-


	10. Chapter 10: The Wide Open Sky

I stayed at the controls and steered the great flying ship westward. When the compass on the wheel pointed west I aligned the ship and locked the steering so we were at a constant pace going west. I battened down all the hatches and let the balloon rise up high above the clouds so that there was no wind pushing us around. All that was moving us was the ship's propeller which gave us a slow but steady pace.

" please let me go..." Begged twilight who I had tied up and gagged. She managed to slip the gag out of her mouth and could talk now. "Please you have what you want... Just let me go." She begged some more.

" I'm afraid I can't do that." I said kneeling down to her level and looking her in the eye. " you see I need you to make sure my trip across the border goes smoothly no without incident."

" so you just took me as collateral." She said with disgust.

" yeah... Collateral is a good word for it." I said. I reached around and started untying her ropes and she looked at me surprisingly. " now I want to treat my guest with respect... So you're free to roam the ship... But without magic or wings there's no way for you to escape."

" what's with the sudden kindness." She said snapping at me as the ropes got looser they fell to her side limp and she stood up and started rubbing the spots where my chain had earlier dug into her skin. She was bleeding and had cuts all around her torso.

" can't have you dying." I said. " but in exchange for this freedoms I might have to ask you for favors along our journey... If you refuse I will tie you up again and dangle you over the side of the ship like a sandbag." I said. She just scoffed at me and looked away. She walked over to the side of the ship and sat down and looked off into the sky.

I let out a deep sigh and walked along the deck. I walked to the underpass and went down the stairs to the lower hangar. I walked down and it was completely empty except for cannons, ammo, and barrels of gunpowder... I'll have to be careful around those. I looked over and I saw crates and barrels full of food and water taking up tons of space on the ship. There were sacks of vegetables and fruit along with barrels of water. This was easily more than three months worth of food.

I walked over and opened up one of the chests that was there. Inside where eating supplies and utensils. I reached in and grabbed a glass from the chest. I looked over and there was a barrel with a tap on it. Makes me wonder why she bothered to put this here if she was going to trap me anyway... I guess it was already here and I just took over the ship... That would explain why she didn't bother removing the weapons.

I flipped the tap and poured myself a glass of water. The glass filled and I flipped the tap off and it dropped a bit onto the wooden floor. I raised up the glass in a sort of toast to myself and my victory. I gulped down the water and it was easily the most refreshing glass of water I ever remember drinking. The last few days have been really good.

Robbed a bank, hijacked a train, got this freaking awesome mask, had some fun at the club in manehattan, single hoofedly wiped out dread hoof and his fleet, crashed the ship and survived... Then stole this ship utilizing a perfect getaway hostage situation... Things are looking up. And with miss twilight here on the ship the princess wouldn't dare attack or do anything stupid.

I finished my water and put the glass down on top of the barrel. I reached into a nearby sack and pulled out a carrot. I started chewing it down and got halfway before I heard hoof steps from up above on the deck. I got suspicious but they were only coming from twilight. She stopped at the front of the ship and sat down. Then she started crying. I could hear her crying and the tears falling from her face hit the wood of the deck.

I hate to say that her crying stung at my heart a little bit... But I got over it. Give it a few days and she'll be fine. I kept looking around the room and saw a door over by the back. I walked over and opened it up. It just opened into the sleeping quarters for the crew. It was right above the captains quarters. I'm sure I can live with letting miss sparkle sleep in one of these beds.

After looking around and analyzing the ship I was sure there was no way for miss sparkle to escape on her own without magic. After all I did keep that magic suppressing ring on her horn. I turned back and walked back into the underside of the ship. I walked over to the stairs and walked back up them and looked over to see twilight sitting slouched over on the deck with a puddle of tears stained into the wood below her head. Her eyes where all rashes and she was miserable in every sense of the way.

" cheer up miss sparkle." I said. She turned her head to look at me with an angry stare. " it could always be worse." I said shrugging and moving over to the captains quarters.

" how can it be worse." She said snapping at me again.

" you could be dead... Remember that." I said. She went silent. I started thinking about a name I would give my new ship. A few and one came to my head. " give it a few days miss sparkle... You'll cheer up." I said she scoffed and looked away. " and miss sparkle... Welcome aboard the phantoms shadow." I said opening the door to the captains lodge and closing it behind me.

I was in the lodge and I looked around. There was a desk with a chair and a map patterned down on the desk with a compass and a few pencils. There was a drawer on the other end with a globe on the top of it. Next to that was a bed which was red and velvety looking. It seemed very comfortable. I looked over and smiled when I saw a large wine rack built into the wall and it was filled with grog and other alcoholic beverages. I walked over and started pulling the, out and reading labels... They were nice and expensive bottles of alcohol... Almost all were unopened... This was a nice bonus.i walked over and set my bags down by the desk and jumped into the bed and laid back.

I let out a mellow sigh and smiled. The bed was just as comfortable as I thought it would be. I had grabbed one of the booze bottles and popped the cork of. I didn't know what it was but I didn't care. I put the tip of the bottle to my mouth and started drinking. I sat there for the next hour or so drinking down the bottle and smiling at my own victory. The bottle was disappointingly weak and by the time I was almost done with it I only had a small buzz. It doesn't matter though. I chugged down the last bit and looked out the window. I noticed the sun was setting on the horizon and I walked out to the deck with few more bottles of booze in my bag.

I walked out and looked around the deck. I couldn't find miss sparkle. I walked around and started lighting up the lanterns hanging around the masts. They lit up the ship nicely and I went down to the lower deck. I turned on a few lanterns down there and headed back up. I walked up to the bridge and as I walked up to turn the lights on up there I saw twilight sitting against the back wall looked over it at the sky. She watched as we grew further and further from her home. I walked over and stood behind her. She looked like she had been crying some more but I think she's fine now.

" cheer up miss sparkle." I said with a faked rate accent. She didn't find it amusing but I was trying not to laugh. " pirate accent not working huh..." I said. She remained silent and looked over the back to the setting sun behind us. " here..." I said putting a large bottle of alcohol down beside her. " maybe this will wash out those blues." I said. She grabbed the bottle and popped the cork and started downing it. She didn't even look at me and she already downed a fourth of the huge bottle... It was rather impressive.

" what do you want?" She asked like I was looking for something.

" nothing." I said sitting down next to her.

" don't touch me." She said shuffling over and getting away from me.

" acting like a child isn't going to make things better miss sparkle..." I said. " the best thing for you to do is grow up and accept you predicament.. And at least take solace in the fact that I'm not going to kill you."

"Trying to act nice doesn't excuse you for what you've done." She said.

" I'm sure it doesn't... But I don't care..." I said standing up and heading back. " there are beds below and plenty of food and water... Rest up miss sparkle... It's going to be a long trip." I said walking down the stairs to the deck. I walked onto the deck and back to the captains den. I opened the door and walked inside and closed it behind me. I locked it and turned on the lantern.

The room filled with light and I reached up to take off my mask. I pulled it off and all my gear and weapons returned to normal as the metal crumbled to ash and vanished like all the other times. I walked over to my desk and set the mask down. I pulled my hat off and placed it on a hat rack by the door. By the hat rack there where pegs sticking out of the wall. I took off my duster and leather armor and hung them up on the pegs. I let out a yawn and crawled into the cozy bed after shutting the lantern off.

I closed my eyes and started to slip off into sleep. I did have a paranoid sense that miss sparkle would try something while I was sleeping but I know she's too afraid to even think about it. Still the feeling was making it hard to sleep. I did eventually drift off to sleep and started having dreams about what my new life will be like out of Equestria. And it wasn't long until the bright light of the sun shining through a round window hit my eyes and woke me up.

I opened my eyes and they hurt from the light. I rubbed them a bit and they adjusted while I let out a loud yawn. I sat up in my bed and stood up soon after. I stretched my limbs and let out another yawn. I walked over and grabbed my hat off the rack. I placed it on top of my head and opened the door to the deck. I walked out to the deck and took in the fresh smell of the morning air. there was a slight breeze from the speed of the ship. i walked over to the edge and looked down. i was a partly cloudy day and the ground was visible from this height. now that i look over, you could see everything from here. we were passing by a city that i already knew as manehattan.

the quiet and peaceful tone of the morning was soon destroyed by a deep rumbling in my stomach. i smiled and stepped away from the edge of the ship. i walked over to the underpass and climbed down the stairs. i reached the lower deck and turned over to the food and water. i grabbed a glass of water and some apple pie. the food was keeping fresh so i guess there must be some kind of magic seal over the crates and bags keeping the food preserved. i gobbled down the apple pie and chugged the glass of water. i let out a deep burp and set the glass on the top of the barrel like before.

i looked back and saw the door to the guards quarters. it was closed and stood there silently. i slowly walked over and put my face up to the window of the door. i looked in and all the beds were empty... except one. i saw twilight sleeping in the corner bed to the left. she laid facing the center of the room and i could see her face. she had the covers pulled up to her chest and she was sleeping peacefully. she looked like she was sleeping as if she wasn't in the situation she has found herself in now... there's something about her.

something about her feels... well... i don't even know. i guess you could call it homely. its comforting but distant at the same time. i haven't known her long nor do i know much about her... but for some reason i'm used to her presence already... i think this is what is keeping me from killing her off other than the hostage part. realizing that i had stood there and stared at her while she slept for a while i shook my head out and collected my thoughts. i turned away and started walking back.

i walked back to the stairs and climbed up to the deck. i walked out into the middle of the deck and looked around at the seemingly endless world around me. there was so much all around and i could see for miles and miles. it was only about 9 in the morning so we've got plenty of daylight left to get some work done. with that i smiled and started looking around. i looked back and forth and started pacing around the ship... i'm so bored.

i walked back to my room and started strapping my gear and weapons onto my body. i tied up the leather armor and put on my duster. i walked over to the desk and picked up the mask. i placed it close to my face and put it on. i was surrounded by red and black flames again and i was transformed once again. i smiled and walked out of the quarters. i walked back down the the lower deck and looked around. other than the food and water there was another cluster of barrels and crates on the other side. i walked over and looked at them.

i opened them up and they were full of stuff like weapons, silk, spices, clothing, dyes and paints, and tons of other goods. sweet i already have a start to my treasure. i looked back at the paint and grabbed a can and a brush. i think its time for some redecorating. i pulled out my knife and pried open the can of black paint. i trotted up to the deck and spread my wings. i flew out over to the side of the ship and dipped the brush into the paint.

i spent the next hour or so carefully and neatly painting "The Phantom Shadow." onto the side of the ship and then spent another hour painting it onto the other side in neat and fancy text. i looked at my handiwork and it was surprisingly good. i flew back up to the deck with a half empty bucket of black paint and a paint brush coated and stained with black paint. seeing as there were tons of these brushes and they're practically worthless i tossed it over the side of the ship to make sure it didn't drip black paint onto the deck.

it plummeted down the the ground and disappeared past a cloud. i looked around at the ship and i didn't agree with the appearance. the name is a good enough touch for now but when i leave this country i'll have it repainted to suit my style. i smiled at my accomplishment and trotted over to the stairs. i trotted down to the lower deck and i turned to see twilight eating some muffins and drinking a glass of water. she looked messy and looked hungover.

"evening miss twilight." i said tipping my hat.

"the expression is good morning." she said only glancing back at me then turning away.

"well it would have been a few hours ago... but now it's evening... so good evening." i said. she just rolled her eyes and turned away. "we just passed over manehattan an hour ago..."

"we haven't gone far then..." she said. "if we just passed manehattan then it'll take us at least two weeks to get to the border."

"thats fine with me..." i said. "the only problem i can see is having to fight off boredom." i said putting the bucket of paint down. "perhaps we'll stop by the next town and see if i can't find something to keep us interested."

"damnit stop that..." said twilight yelling at me.

"what." i shouted not liking the tone of her voice.

"stop acting like you're a good pony... you're not... nothing you have ever done was good no matter if there's a bright side to it or not... you're a horrible and sadistic pony." she said. i was partially taken back by her words. i felt angry but i didn't want to yell.

"you don't understand how i work miss sparkle." i said. "i might to horrible things but that doesn't make me bad... i try my best to act like a gentlecolt... i take what i want but i at least have the mercy to leave the poor and helpless to themselves. i don't kill unless challenged, i don't steal from the poor, and i don't act like an inconsiderate jackass... you might only see the grim in this and i can see that... but don't think that because i do what i do that makes me a horrible pony." i said.

"i swear if crimson were still alive he would have killed you weeks ago." she said. she started reflecting on that crimson guy and a tear fell to her eye.

"what... you were like his wife or something." i said smiling at the joke.

"no... i was his best friend... i was there when he died... i've never met a pony who died as honorably as he did." she said.

"yeah i'm sure he was great." i said rolling my eyes. "if you don't mind i'm going to go look ahead for a place to stop... i apologize for the argument... if you would like something tell em before we stop and i'll se what i can do." she just glared at me and turned away.

"i don't need anything." she said.

"well i'll still let you think it over... it's going to be a long journey and keeping you distracted will make things easier on the both of us... but if you want to sit there and wallow in you own misery and self pity you're welcome to." i said walking over to the stairs. i walked up the stairs and back onto the deck. i walked across the deck and up to the bridge. i took my spot in front of the wheel and looked around. i looked over and saw a small almost invisible cluster of buildings off in the distance.

i left the deck and walked into the captains quarters. i started looking around but i couldn't find anything. i walked over to the desk and opened up the first drawer. pouch of gold... took that, quills, ink wells, paper...nope. i opened up the next drawer. dagger, wrapped up scroll, more quills, and other office supplies, but not what i was looking for. i opened the last drawer and looked in. unopened beer bottles, a few gems, a strange looking necklace... ah there we go. i reached in and picked up a spyglass. i closed the drawer after taking the gems and jewels and put the spyglass on my side attached to my belt... i'll keep it there, it could be a nice tool to have.

i left the quarters and walked back up to the bridge and looked back to the small black mass past the large forest below us. i took the spyglass off my belt and extended it. i closed my left eye and put the scope up the my right. i looked around until i found the black mass. it was a small town. i'm sure i can find something there to keep us both entertained. not the only problem is that i'm sure all of equestria and then some has definitely been warned about me. so if there are any guards and crimson followers they will most likely attack me... but not if miss sparkle comes with me.

i smiled and closed the spy glass. i hooked it back onto my belt and placed my hooves on the wheel. i grabbed the key to lock the mechanisms of the ship and unlocked them. the ship was now in manual mode. i pushed the lever next to me forward and the furnace controlling the balloon started blasting cold air and the ship started dropping in elevation. while we were slowly declining i spun the wheel and the flaps in the back turned and we slowly started turning to the small town. we breached the cloud level and we dipped down a bit before i pulled the lever backwards and let more hot air into the balloon and it leveled out.

we picked up speed from the wind below cloud level and i kept the ship steady as we started floating over to the town. it was becoming larger and larger until it was easily visible from the naked eye. i watched as twilight walked up onto the deck with confusion. she looked at me and i smiled back at her. she ran over to the front and looked over to see the town growing closer. we were going pretty fast now and the speed of the ship was causing a mild breeze. it felt good. some ponies grow sea legs... fuck that, i've got skylegs... or something.

"where are you taking us?" asked twilight running over to the bottom of the bridge stairs.

"that town over there." i said pointing to the small town which was now much more visible and much less small from this view. i pulled down on a different lever and the hatches of the ship flew open and we significantly dropped in speed causing everything to jerk forward. i used the wheel to keep me up but twilight fell over onto the deck and got right back up. now we were just inching along and the breeze had stopped. the town was so close now. "twilight drop the anchor." i said.

she glared at me but she walked over anyway and walked down the the underside of the ship. i heard the lever for the anchor get pulled and i waited. i could hear a huge thud under the ship and the ship soon stopped inching forward and ceased to move. i smiled and let go of the wheel. i locked the mechanisms just to be safe and walked off the bridge. and back onto the deck just as twilight emerged from the lower cabin of the ship.

"there... the anchor is lowered." she said grudgingly.

"perfect... we should get going now." i said walking to the side of the ship and looking over. it was too far down for the ladder... not my best landing.

"what do you mean we?" asked twilight raising an eyebrow.

"you think i'm going to leave you on the ship by yourself?" i said. "theres no telling what you would do." she just grunted and walked over to the edge. "now lets go." i said. i grabbed her and jumped over the side of the ship. she shrieked in terror but i spread out my wings and we quickly drifted down the the ground. once we were inches from the ground and held her by her stomach and let her drop to the ground hooves first. i flew over and landed next to her.

"dont ever do that again." she said.

"i'll remember that for the next time i care." i said walking forward. "now lets go... and you know the drill... if you cause me any trouble there will be hell to pay." i said. she just glared at me with anger but sighed and hung her head in hopelessness and followed closely behind me. "good girl... now lets go." i said. "try and look for anything that will keep you occupied." i said. she seemed fine except for the magic ring on her head... that could cause some suspicion.

"what are you doing." she said as i reached over and grabbed her horn.

"this ring might carry off some suspicion from guards.' i said using my skull key to unlock it. once it was unlock and it widened i pushed it further down in her horn until it was hiding under her hair. "there... that's better." i said. i locked it and she glared at me. i placed the skull key on my hat as the buckle and we kept walking with the town growing closer in sight.

we anchored down not far out of the town and it only took us a few minutes to walk to the entrance and then another minute to walk into the town. when we got into town i dropped back until twilight was right next to me. need to keep my eye on her so she doesn't run off. we walked through the streets and passed many ponies. it was no surprise that we got tons of dirty looks. even the guards we passed growled at me and seemed to stalk me. seeing as my face was plastered over every inch of wall there was no surprise there.

the guards all gave me the same hatred filled look and they wanted to kill me badly. i could see the hatred and bloodlust in their eyes, but they knew better. they knew about the situation i had created and just one false step would lead to a massacre. we both walked around and eventually we got into a large market area. there were surprisingly few guards here. they just watched me as i walked. they didn't want to cause a scene and i didn't either. we passed by the other ponies who looked at me cluelessly. some gave me dirty looks but they were more confused than disgusted suggesting they don't know who i am either.

"anything you want?" i asked hoping to get this over with a quickly as possible and get going again. twilight looked around now. she seemed more open to the whole idea of finding a distraction for her and glanced across the shop signs. to be honest the only reason i was doing this is so that maybe she won't bother me as much. she kept looking around and her eyes caught something. she stopped and i did too. i followed her gaze to a bookstore. "books?... really." i said looking at her.

"uhm... yeah." she said feeling awkward talking to me in public. i had put on my innocent good guy act and it made it more awkward for her. it was a bit strange for me but i had the comfort of knowing that under the disguise i was pulling all the strings... so i had that going for me. we walked over and into the store. there were tons of books lining the walls and a small librarian like help desk. there was a sign telling us that all books were just 2 bits each... i think i could live with spending some money here.

"alright..." i said to twilight. "go ahead and pick out as many books as you want and we can get going." she walked away and i waited here while she started going around and pulling books off of the shelves. i could see twilight was finding some pleasure in picking out books but was still facing the horrible facts. once she was done she walked over carrying a large stack of books on her back. i was a bit surprised that she could read that much... but then again i don't care. for only two bits a book it was worth not having her bother me and keep her distracted.

i looked over the books and more specifically i looked at some of the titles just incase she was planning something. it was mostly just magic books which don't do her much good with that ring on her horn. the others comprised of a science book, a few large novels, and a book on psychology. seeing no foreseeable threat i just smiled and we walked over to the desk. there was an old mare behind the desk who looked up with surprise and just smiled at the books twilight was carrying.

"you know young lady you can just carry them with you're magic..." said the old mare. "you are a unicorn." i looked over to twilight glaring at her to think of an excuse and she made no trouble in coming up with one on the spot.

"i know..." she said. "but i just got out of the hospital for a head injury and i'm not supposed to use magic for a while." she said with a fake smile... she was good at blending in.

"oh i'm sorry sweetie." said the old mare. "i hope you get well soon." she said.

"thank you..." said twilight smiling. the old mare ran her hooves past the stack of books.

"alright that's 23 books which makes the total 46 bits." said the old mare. i reached into my bag and pulled out the money and gave it to the old mare. she smiled and took the money. twilight went to grab the books but i stopped her.

"here let me get those for you honey." i said playing the fake relationship card. this made twilight tense up but she soon relaxed.

"thanks babe." she said with another fake smile. i could tell this was really awkward for her. i reached over and grabbed the stack of books and laid them on my back... they were heavy as fuck.

"such a kind gentlecolt." said the old mare. "i wish there were more stallions in the world just like you." i smiled and tipped my hat.

"thank you ma'am." i said. i was trying my best not to laugh at the horrible mistake of a statement that old mare just said. i could feel that it was killing twilight on the inside at the truth and horror to what that would be like. "lets go honey." i said walking to the door. twilight just put on her best smile and we left the shop. that's when i let out my laughter but kept it confined to me and twilight.

" more stallions like you..." grunted twilight. "one is already one too many." she said glaring at me. i couldn't help but laugh a little more.

"oh lighten up." i said grabbing a few books and starting to pile them into my bottomless bags. she looked over at the bags and seemed surprised i could even fit a few of the books in there.

"i didn't know you're bags were infinite." she said.

"light as a feather too." i said.

"really... and how much gold exactly are you hiding in there." she said giving me a dirty look.

"oh lots of gold..." i said. "but don't you worry about that." i said. "i got you you're books and i didn't rob the place blind while we were there... now we can get on with our journey." i said.

"and what was keeping you from robbing that place... afraid we'd get found out by the guards." said twilight judging me.

"not at all..." i said. "besides the guards have been all over us since we walked into the town... they're to afraid to try something though... all they do is watch and growl at me." i said. "besides i wouldn't rob that old mares bookstore... there was nothing worth taking and its not worth taking from the elderly." i said. twilight again scoffed at me and looked away.

i looked up and the balloon was easily visible from the ground. it stuck out like a sore hoof. i used it as a directional to find my way back and it seemed to be working rather well as we kept passing familiar landmarks. out of the corner of my eye i spotted two guards standing there and glaring at me. they were whispering to each other and they gave me dirty looks. not only that but i noticed dark figures watching us from the shadows of the alleyways. plus i keep seeing the same few ponies walking behind us every now and then.

i turned back to see if they were still there but they weren't. i looked around and there weren't even any guards around anymore either. i had a feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as i had planned it out to be. and it was like that as we grew closer to the edge of the town and there hadn't been a guard in sight for at least eight blocks. i had a really bad feeling about this. i kept my guard up as we started to exit the town into the small forest path.

we reached the right turn to the spot where we anchored the ship somewhere in a forest clearing. we made the turn and as the clearing came into view we were greeted by the sight of a small battalion of guards and armored ponies alike. the armored ponies were all crimson followers. twilight look at them with fear and some hope... but mostly feared that i would kill her if they tried anything. too bad she didn't know i wasn't planning on killing her. she's really my only ticket out of here.

"just as we thought... Scar." said a well decorated guard with advanced looking gold armour and a sword and shield.

"i thought i made it clear to celestia i didn't want trouble." i said glaring at them and using a wing to push twilight back. she back up a bit. i reached over and grabbed my tomahawk in my hoof and pulled my bow off my back and put an arrow in it.

"you might have made that clear with celestia but not me... i'd rather see you dead instead of gone." he said.

"and who would you be." i said pulling the arrow back on the string and getting ready to fire. the same went with a few other archers. the only difference was they were aiming at me and i held mine to the ground. the others just drew their weapons.

"i am commander bronze blade." he said pulling out his weapons. "and you have five seconds to surrender you're hostage and yourself before we open fire." he said.

"i wouldn't do that." i said.

"if you make a move towards miss twilight sparkle we will shoot." he said. i stood there holding my bow down still with an arrow in it ready to fire.

"try me." i said. i glared at him and he glared back. twilight stood there a few feet behind me and watched as a battle was about to unfold in front of her. i could tell that she wanted them to kill me with all her heart. but her brain was telling her that they wouldn't be able to kill me and that if she ran i would hunt her down... so she stood there.

"one.." shouted the commander. two... three." he shouted some more. the archers pulled back further on their bows and they all seemed to be aiming right for my head... this is going to be funny. "four..." he shouted. i stood there and glared at him as he glared back at me. he raised his hoof up and held it up. "FIRE!" he shouted as he slammed his hoof on the ground.

the archers all released the arrows from their bows and they flew across the air towards me. i kept calm and watched for a second as the arrows flew through the air. they all met right at the near center of my head. all the arrows hit my forehead and just bounced off of the metal of the mask and the mask started glowing bright red and the symbols lit up. all the ponies were confused... but they're faces after.

"nice try." i said smiling and watching the archers. i saw one archers eyes widen and a hole tear into his head from an invisible force. he quickly dropped to the ground dead. his friends watched and yelled in fear and surprise. they looked around and one by one the archers started dropping like flies. the other ponies looked over at me and backed away in fear and confusion. this however only seemed to make the commander furious.

"get him..." he said pulling out his sword and pointing it at me as a signal for this soldiers to charge. they all let out a roar of battle and started running at me with their weapons drawn. twilight stood there with a few tears running down her cheeks with a mellow look. she was just watching these ponies run towards their death. she just looked at them and felt sorry for them almost.

"my turn..." i said holding my bow up. the gang of ponies had cluttered together and they ran at me. i let the arrow go and it hit the head of one pony. he dropped dead and i pulled out another one. the symbols on my body gear to glow brighter as i pulled out the next arrow and readied it in the bow. the arrow was glowing brightly and it was dripping with some kind of red substance... blood? i ignored it and knew that this next shot was going to pack some extra heat... i could just feel it... and i was so right.

i let the arrow go and it whirled through the air. it cut through the air and hit one pony in the head. the pony was in the center of the group and when the arrow hit his head, instead of dropping to the ground something much more gruesome happened. the arrow made contact... and he fucking exploded... yeah exploded. i'm not sure if it was him or the arrow but he just burst into a burst of spikes. the spikes were purely red and looked like blood. they flew forward and started skewering the other ponies. the blood seemed to move like a liquid but it pierced like a spear.

the liquid mass of spikes that was the poor unfortunate guy i shot my arrow and it seemed to harden into a kind of crystal sticking out of the ground. in the explosion the liquid state of the blast shot off large pointy shards of the blood like material that crystallized almost instantly in the air before stabbing through the other warriors and guards... i'm proud to say that one arrow killed the rest of them... all 13 guards running after me. the all dropped dead or bleeding out and dying. the commander just looked at me with disbelief and anger.

"but that's not... how did you do that?" he yelled out. i just smiled and shrugged.

"i don't know." i said. "it just happened." he looked at me and he grew even more angry.

"damnit... miss twilight sparkle." he said. "run... get out of here, i'll hold him off just go." he said. twilight just stood there with a pitiful expression and looked at the ground. "go... run, get out of here." he said trying to ward her away, but she stayed.

"aww... how brave." i said. "trying to sacrifice you're life so miss sparkle here can get away... but life isn't a fantasy." i said. "the horrible truth is that miss sparkle is going to stay with me... and i'm going to kill you." i said drawing out my tomahawk. he clanged his sword against his shield and ran over. but instead of charging me he was smart and stopped.

he slashed his sword over and i parried it off with my axe and went for the kill. i lunged my axe from high up with a straight chop to his head but he put his shield up. my axe clashed down on his shield and dug in deep. he let out a loud cry. my axe cut through his shield deep enough to get to his arm. i pulled the axe out and it was covered in blood which was also dripping onto the ground from behind his shield.

he lashed at me again and i blocked with my axe. we went at it for a while clashing weapons with no straight shot of getting a hit. he was probably the most challenging opponent i've fought so far. we clashed and clashed weapons over and over filling the air with the sound and clanging metal and sparks. i could tell he was getting weak from blood loss and he would be done with at any moment. he lashed at me and i went to block... but i tripped up and his swing knocked my axe out of my hand. my initial reaction was fear, but then i smiled. he swung his sword at me and his blade hit the metal plate on my neck and bounced off.

"wrong move." i said. before he said anything he let out a cry of pain as a gash started ripping across his neck and almost cut his head off. he started bleeding everywhere and his eyes shrunk into his head. he gasped and tried to hang onto his life as much as he could. but soon he fell to his knees and grew silent. he stood there as the blood flowing from his neck died down as the last few drops sputtered out... and then he fell to the ground.

"is it over now." said twilight.

"i'd say it is... unless there are a few of them hiding in the bushes which at this point they would have fled." i said. i walked over and started looking over the dead ponies and started gathering some of their stuff. "see anything you like?" i asked with an evil smile. "go ahead and feel free to take whatever you want... they sure as hell don't need it anymore."

"i guess i could use a few bits or a sword... or some armor." she said. i was shocked... to say the least. i had not expected that kind of response from her and it made me smile.

"miss sparkle i'm surprised." i said smiling and grabbing the arrows from the archers and putting them in my own quiver. "i didn't expect you to participate in looting... to be honest it was a joke... what's with the sudden change of heart?" i said.

"i might as well..." she said. "like you said, they don't need it and i need all i can get." she replied as she grabbed a few things off of the guards. mostly just supplies and money but she did take one of their utility belts and some cloth and leather patched armor. we finished looting the bodies and i had grabbed a few weapons and pairs of armor along with other treasures. i walked over to twilight and picked her up. i spread my wings and flew up into the sky. i flew up fast and soon soared over the top of the ship. i gently floated down and placed miss sparkle on the deck and then touched down myself.

"well now." i said with tons of armor and weapons hanging off of me. "lets pack up and head out." i said. we both walked down to the cabin and i placed my armor and weapons with all the other goods. i walked into the crews quarters with twilight and started piling her books on a bed close to hers. she just sat down and laid out the armor she had grabbed and put her new utility belt on the bed too. "i'll leave you too it while i get us back into the air." i said closing the door and walking away.

i walked back up the stairs and onto the deck. io headed over to the bridge and climbed up the stairs. i took my place by the wheel and unlocked the mechanisms to the ship. once those were unlocked i suddenly remembered that i forgot to raise the anchor. i let out a deep sigh and rushed back into the cabin. as i walked down the stairs i heard as scream coming from twilight's room. almost by instinct i pulled out my axe and rushed to the door.

i rammed the door open and looked in the room. in a split second i saw a guard with a spear trying to grab twilight and i tossed my axe through the air. i whirled by and caught the guard in the side of the head. his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped to the ground. i walked over and pulled the axe from his head and looked over at twilight.

"where did he come from?" i asked.

"i... i don't know... he must have climbed aboard." she said. "i heard a noise and he was just there." i looked over and i guessed he must have taken cover behind a bed just in case. i walked over and check the room. i even looked under the beds and the room was clear.

"alright... you stay here while i search the ship." i said. she nodded and i walked out through the busted door and closed it behind me. i looked around for possible hiding places. first thing i did though was pull the anchor up. as the anchor raised i could feel the ship inching forward a bit but keeping level. i checked around but i couldn't find anypony. after i was convinced that the cabin was secure i walked up to the deck. i looked around but there aren't any hiding spots up here... too open. i went back to the controls and took my spot behind the wheel.

i pulled the lever and warm air shot into the balloon making it rise. we floated up and broke past the cloud layer and kept floating up. once we were nice and high up the ship leveled out and it was smooth sailing from here. with no wind we stopped moving. i flipped on the propellers and we picked up speed. i followed the compass and spun the wheel of the ship. we turned slowly and i kept her moving until we were due westward. i evened out the path and locked the gears. now that, that's done... it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

i walked down off the bridge and before i went back down to the cabin a heard a creak from behind me. i turned to see the door to my den was slightly open... i don't remember leaving it that way. i walked over slowly and stepped up to the door. i quietly opened it and looked inside. i almost jumped when i saw a huge armored pony at the wine rack downing a bottle of scotch. i walked in and looked over him... he didn't have a helmet on... tsk tsk. i pulled up my bow and got an arrow ready... i hope this one doesn't freak out and explode.

"oi..." i said getting his attention. he jumped and turned around to see me. when he saw my arrow he dropped the empty bottle onto the floor and it rolled away.

"oh shit... you're that scar guy." he said. "i'm supposed to kill you... i guess you got me." this guy is piss drunk and i don't care for his existence any longer. i let the arrow go and it hit him right in the head and he fell to the ground stone cold. i let out a sigh and searched him. i took his money and a nice dagger he had strapped on. i picked him up and walked him out to the deck. i walked out to see twilight with the other corpse.

she was wearing her gear now. she was wearing light blue robes with dark brown leather padding. she had a sword hilted to the utility belt she was wearing. her leather gear had flares at the hooves and a hood which she was keeping down for now. she looked like an impressive adventurer. she had a few other things tied to her. a knife at her back hoof and front upper leg. she had her gold at her side and some rope at her other side. i walked over and she saw me. she looked over and threw the corpse of the guard overboard... that made me smile more.

"i'm liking the new attitude." i said. "and you don't look too bad in that gear." i said walking over and throwing the other corpse overboard alongside her. i looked over at her and smiled but she just gazed blankly back at me and ruined my smile.

"i didn't do this for you..." she said. "i did it because of you... you made me realize that i've been too soft and i need to be stronger if i want to keep up." she said. she looked over the side and the now diminishing sky as it was growing late and the sun was growing closer to the side of the mountains. "equestria's changing and i figured i need to change with it... we didn't always used to be a adventurous country... but after crimson started getting famous more and more ponies started adventuring... now it's become the hotspot of adventuring for ponies in equestria and even ponies outside of equestria."

"well i don't care what you're reasoning is... i like the new twilight better." i said.

"whatever." she said turning away and walking back down to the cabin and probably to her room to start reading her books or whatever. i let out a sigh as she walked away and walked up to the bridge. and paced around a bit. as the sun started to set i walked around and started lighting up the deck. i only lit a few lanterns to preserve light but it was good enough anyway. i moved towards the front of the ship and sat down while watching the sun set. the sun fell below the edge of the world and for a second i smiled before the darkness washed over the land. the night glowed with energy and i could see all the stars in the sky perfectly. i let out a yawn and headed to my room.

i walked inside and took off my gear. once it was all off i hung it up and placed the mask on the desk. i closed the door and locked it behind me. the room was just light enough to make out were i was going but i still moved slowly to the bed. when i got to it i jumped into it and pulled the covers over me. i closed my eyes and tried to drift off to sleep. i started thinking about what other surprises await me tomorrow.

i can only wait and see...

-Authors Note: alright guys big fucking not right here so get ready... and trust me when i say that you want to read it all. here we go:

first the whole thing with scar isn't going to last for the entire story... it's just a phase of crimsons rebirth. there is going to be a lot of violence and abuse towards some characters who's names will go unmentioned but i'm sure you all know who i'm talking about (if you dont it's twilight). a lot of you guys might end up hating me and some of you might want me dead... but it's alright, im going to fix everything. also the later chapters might get a bit confusing. i'm sure a lot of you are thinking there are going to be awesome pirate ship battles but that's not going to happen in this phase. though this isn't going to be the end... i promise you that i have filled the chapters with a lot more violence and battle than ever before. and i also want to tell you guys that this book is going to have more adventure, sex, battle, and mystical creatures, places and items than dream machine... it's going to be non stop.

i am also warning you guys that this story is going to be very dark at some points and there will be a lot of graphic detail... i'm not super great at pulling that off but i can try... it's not easy stuff. but this is going to be big and i dont promise you a chapter every fucking day... because then i'll end up staying up wicked late drinking monster and red bull... soon enough i'll have drank my way into a energy drink coma... somehow. so it might be a new chapter every few days or so but since ive got a bunch of leftover chapters i'm going to post those every day until i catch up.

ON A DIFFERENT NOTE:

ive been reading a few fanfic's and a lot of you guys are pretty damn good. if you guys are sad because you dont have any comments or not a lot of views just tell me... i'll read your stories to death... litteraly. i'll comment the shit out of them and if i like it i'll follow that shit as hard as i can. but a few fanfics have caught my eye and i'm very eager about reading them... so check this shit out:

- "The Experiment"- **GearGamer**

**-** "Fallen Angel"- **Battle Damage**

**-** "Rays Of Hope"-** ShiningShadow1965**

you guys are the best for sitting there at your computer and putting up with 90 chapters of my shit. i really appreciate you guys and your all great.

and also ive been getting this a lot. there have been concerns and questions about the OC's in the story. im putting them back in and i'll be adding new ones in soon enough. just calm your tits and relax. they're not gone forever but the story is at what i think is one of the dramatic climbs and we have to let it settle down a bit before i start throwing in new ponies. its hard to do that when shits moving this fast... OC's need to be introduced/ reintroduced slowly and gently. and i haven't been getting this enough but if you guys have any ideas or concepts you would like to see in the fanfic let me know. i used to have a big stack of ideas from me and my friend and some of you guys but that was destroyed in a freak kitchen fire... which may or may not have been my fault. but if i learned anything from that experience it's that i'm never trusting myself with a skillet for me and that bacon grease is very hot and can be shot al the way across a college dorm and to end... well it's back to good ol' fashioned ramen noodles for me (yum).

so yeah i need new ideas or else im more likely to get stuck and completely blank out which just happened to me recently. if you have any ideas just let me know. even if they aren't good ideas every bit helps. and if they wont work i'm not going to shoot you down and make you cry alone in your bed... i'll just say thanks and throw it in a pile for later... so there's no hard feelings...

anyway... this is the end(finally)... i hope you bro's keep reading and put up with my bullshit a bit longer. catch you bro's later... and stay shady.-End of Note-


	11. Chapter 11: Stockholm

I flickered to life at the light of a new days morning. As sunlight flooded into the room I slowly emerged from my bed and rubbed my eyes. I let out a big yawn and stretched my hooves. My mouth was dry and sticky from my sleep and I needed some water. I turned to the side of my bed and stood up on the floor. I walked over to the door and turned the knob. I pushed it open and I was greeted by the bright morning light. I shielded my eyes from the burning light.

After a while of standing there my eyes finally adjusted but I still had to squint to keep myself from going blind. I walked across the ships deck and walked over to the underpass. I walked down the stairs to the cabin. I turned right to the food and water and like usual I grabbed some water and a muffin or something for breakfast. I let out another yawn and looked over to see twilight emerging from her room.

Her hair was a mess and she had heavy bags under her eyes. She wasn't wearing her armor anymore. She monied on over and stood next to me getting food and water. I stepped aside as I took a drink so she could get some water too. She let out a yawn and started eating breakfast and took a drink of her water.

" good morning." I finally managed to say. " get any sleep last night?"

" some..." She said. " I stayed up late last night and read through one of the books."... Damn that was quick.

" your a pretty fast reader." I said.

" hmmm..." She said taking another drink of the water. She seemed to be warming up now and had become less hostile. She either accepted her fate or was utterly crushed with no hope yet... But I don't think it's that one, she has an air of leisure and normality about her... Like its just some other day.

" I'm off to the deck to see if there isn't anything to do." I said walking away. She just lazily waved her hoof as a way of saying have fun. I just smiled and rolled my eyes as I walked up the stairs onto the deck. I stepped out to the center of the deck and looked around. I walked over to the side and looked down over the edge.

It was a cloudless day and I could see everything for miles and miles and miles. It really is a beautiful sight. A sight that can even put an evil heart like mine at peace for a moment. I looked over and observed the landscape. From our speed it looked like we weren't moving at all. But the cool breeze against my face said otherwise.

I could look over and see the majestic purple mountain range. Bellow was a large forest area that dimmed out to a wide field with a few tries here and there. I could see a lot of the main roads running through the trees. I waved to the other side and looked over. There were more mountains but they looked like a crater in the distance. They were red and arid looking and the area around them was desolate and dry. It gives and nice dimension to things.

I walked up to the bridge and looked over and looked around. I could see that we were just passing by a small town. It wouldn't be long until we were past it and I don't feel like turning back. I left the bridge and walked over to the front of the ship. I looked over and I could see a small cloud city off in the distance in front of us. I looked over and I could see it was more than a cloud city. It was a docking station with tons of ships and docks.

But one thing I noticed that made me smile was that it wasn't a military dock... It was a bandit docking city. There were huge wooden platforms and high roses being held up by clouds so that non Pegasus ponies could walk and do business. I think I figured our next spot. It was a while away but it was huge. I quickly rushed over to the controls and decreased our speed to give us time. Then I rushed down to the cabin. I walked over to the cabin and knocked on twilights door.

" what is it." She said opening the door.

" get your stuff ready." I said... " where docking."

" where?" She asked.

" just get ready and you'll see on the deck." I said. I trotted off and walked back up to the deck. I trotted along the deck and over into my room. I walked in and started strapping my gear on. I tied my leather armor on and put my duster over it. Then I grabbed my hat and placed it on my head. I grabbed my mask, placed it on, and transformed. When I was done I opened the door and walked out onto the deck.

I used my spyglass to check on the docking city. It was still pretty far away and we were going slow now. I pulled out my spyglass and looked out over to the city. I saw that all the ships there wherein ate or bandit ships. I figured we could stop here... Restock on supplies, get the ship repainted, and maybe get a few crew members. I pulled my spyglass down and hung it around my belt as twilight was walking up the stairs onto the deck. She walked over and looked at the docking station.

" beautiful ain't it." I said smiling. She managed to pull off a little smile showing that she did intact have some emotions.

" this is blood run sky station." She said. " the most impressive and strongest bandit docking station... I'm sure we'll find plenty of pirates and cutthroats here."

" I figured we could rest up here for a day or so..." I said. " I'll get the ship repainted, get some more supplies, and maybe hire a small crew."

" with your kind of status I'm sure ponies will line up to get aboard your ship." She said. She seemed a bit overly positive about this... Which was starting to make me suspicious.

" I'm sure..." I said. " well we will be landing soon so I got to go bring her in and then we can get going." I said. Twilight remained unresponsive and walked back down to the deck. I didn't like the way she was acting... It's too positive.

I ignored it for now and walked over to the bridge. I pulled the lever forward and let a small amount of cold air into the balloon so that we could sink down the the docks level. Once we were lined up I unlocked the gears and took control. I put the propellers on full speed and we started flying fast to the dock. I watched as the huge floating city grew closer and closer. There were houses and large uprises. They were like houses on stilts and there were tons of docking spaces.

I looked around and spotted a good place to dock. I reduced the speed as we were close now and pushed forward little by little into the docking space. I looked around and saw our ship was huge compared to some of the others. Soon enough we were in the docking yard and I moved the ship down close to the side of the dock. I pulled back on the propellers and we slowed to an almost still position only floating forward a few inches at a time.

" miss twilight... The anchor if you would please." I shouted out. I heard hoofsteps below and the pulling of the lever. The anchor hatch opened up and the heavy anchor fell to the ground. It hit the surface below with a large thud and soon the ship was at a full stop. I looked over and we were nice and even with the dock and at a good level too. Perfect parking. " thank you miss sparkle..." I said. She trotted out onto the deck and I locked the gears of the ship and joined her.

I smiled and we walked over to the side of the ship against the dock. I picked up the cross board and placed it down between the ship and the dock. We both hopped up on the long wide board and walked over to the floating wooden platform of the dock. I touched the ground of the dock and took in a deep breath. I let out the breath and smiled as I looked around. I saw that there were a lot of bandits walking around and almost all of them were looking at me with smiles.

" I told you that you'd be famous here... After all you are the alleged king of the bandits." Said twilight.

" so I am... So I am." I said quietly to twilight. " alright listen up..." I yelled out to the crowd and everypony looked over at me. " which one of you low life's can repaint my ship... If I like it, there's a reward." I said.

" aye... Me and my crew can do it." Said one pony stepping from the crowd. He looked like a dock worker but his clothing was covered in paint which gave me a good impression of him.

" alright boy..." I said. " when can you get it done..." I asked. He seemed to almost bow to me and the others just kind of went on their merry way still passing a gaze over me.

" by the end of the day mr. Scar." He said. " me and my crew will have the ship repainted, the balloon dyed, and the name engraved and printed on the port and starboard." He said.

" that fast huh..." I said. " good on ya."

" what colors do you want." He asked. I already knew the colors I wanted.

" for the ship I want the wood to be black with a dark blue and red for the decals. Same with the balloon." I said. " think you can handle that?"

"Yes sir..." He said.

" we'll get to it boy... I'll be back by sunset to get a gander at her." I said. He nodded and turned to the crowd and let out a loud whistle.

" LET'S GET GOING BOYS..." He shouted out taking authority. A bunch of similar looking ponies rushed out from every corner and clung to the ship. I smiled and started walking down the dock.

" that was easy and efficient." Said twilight.

" I'm surprised too... We might not have to spend the night." I said. " but you never know."

We started walking through the town and passed a lot of shops and houses that seemed to all just be clung together. Like it was all just one large house stretched out over the whole city. We waved around and looked back and forth.

" so how are you going to start a crew." Asked twilight.

" I figured I'd start at the local bar... See who's willing to sail with me." I said. " I figured I would hire five ponies to fire the cannons and three or so deck hooves." I said. We walked around some more until we came across an impressive looking bar. It was big and it smelt of blood and violence... It's the perfect starting place.

We walked inside and I looked around. There were ponies sitting at the bar or tables drinking up their beers. Some were playing darts over in the corner and other were placing bets on a few games of pool. The smell of body odor and booze was heavy in the air. I could see it was making twilight start to dry heave. As soon as we stepped in all the heads turned to me and all ponies looked over at me with surprise.

" SCAR!" They all shouted out as they held up their drinks or billiard poles. I just smiled and tipped my hat as one seemingly drunk pony walked over to ,e and twilight.

" scar you crazy son of a bitch... You got us worried there." He said. I think I might have been here before... It would make sense seeing how easy flying a ship was for me. The time we stole those canterlot ships I just grabbed the controls and it was like instinct.

" do I know you?" I said.

" what!" He said seeming very surprised. " it's me... you're old first mate salt-eye sam." he said. the pony did strike some kind of uniqueness among the other rabble.

"ohh..." i said. "know i remember." i was lying of course but it wouldn't hurt anypony.

"so yer back into sailing are ye..." he said.

"yep... got a new ship and everything, i'm going to sail her out of equestria and start fresh..."

"i figured that's what you would do." he said. "heard the stories about you breakin out... crashing dreads ship."

"it was my ship first..." i said.

"aye..." he said. we both smiled. he looked over and stared at twilight. "who's the lass..."

"this is miss twilight sparkle..." i said. "she's my hostage and my insurance that i won't be bothered from here to the border."

"well miss sparkle..." said sam. "welcome aboard..."

"so salt-eye sam, how would you like to my first mate aboard the phantom shadow." i said smiling at him. he just smiled back excitedly with a grin of confidence.

"aye... that would be a dream come true." he said. "why don't we get some drinks... talk for a bit." he said. i just tipped my hat and we walked over to the bar. we got our drinks and went to the round table in the back corner. me and sam both got strong drinks while twilight just got some light wine. we sat down and i took a drink of my beer.

"so i'm going to need a crew." i said. " i don't have much right now so i figured we should start the crew small, something like five ponies to arm the cannons and three deckhooves."

"not a problem..." he said. "i'll find some colts and we can fit you're ship with scraps from the graveyard." he said.

"she already has cannons and ammunition..." i said. "we've got three months of food and trade goods which we can sell later." me and sam talked over the details for a while and twilight just sat there and sipped her wine not knowing much and how to butt into to conversation.

"i've got good connections around these parts..." said sam. "i can get you're ship armored up and ready for one hell of a fight by tomorrow."

"you can do that for me?" i asked surprisingly.

"easy..." he said. "but if you want it done fast and with magic then it will be done by tomorrow, if not then it will be done by the weeks end." he said.

"we don't have time to sit here for a week." i said.

"then i'd suggest getting it done fast... but it won't be cheap." he said.

"why don't you bring me to you're connection guy and we can discuss a deal." i said chugging down the rest of my bottle.

"if you insist cap'n" said sam "he owns the graveyard... we can meet him there." i smiled and we all got up. we left the bar and i followed sam down the road. twilight walked beside me and stayed silent the entire time. i checked my watch as we walked and there was still plenty of daylight left to burn. i looked around the at the huge wooden and cloud city. suddenly we came to a stop.

i looked over and saw a mountain range of broken ships and scrap. everything was dead silent and the air of death washed around us... i think i remember why they call it the graveyard. but before we walked into the wreckage there was a large building. we walked over to the large building and sam opened the door and me and twilight walked in after him. i looked around and the large room which was covered in ship memorabilia.

there were pictures and paintings of ships hanging up on the walls. there were a few ship-in-a-bottles lying around the place. there were also things like rope and barrels strewn about in random places and there was even a large ironclad cannon in the corner. i turned over to see an old pony sailor walked into the room. he had a white mane and beard with an eyepatch and sailor suit. i looked at his head and under his hair and old captains hat he had a horn sticking out.

"ah... evenin there sammy." he said to salt-eye sam. "need something fixed up or replaced." he asked.

"not today..." he said. " but i need you to armor up captain scars ship." he said pointing over to me. the old man looked over and our eyes caught each other. i smiled and tipped my hat and he smiled too.

"well i'll be damned..." said the old pony. "i never thought these old bones would ever get to meet the bandit king himself... captain scar."

"i need to know if you can upgrade my ship?" i asked.

"oh of course..." he said walking to a counter and grabbing some papers. "it would be an honor, just tell me what you want and i will have it done." he left the papers behind except for one and walked over to a small table in the middle of the room. he placed it down and rolled out the small paper. it was a diagram of a ship and it had different modifications and upgrades. "anything you want sir..." he said. i looked over the chart.

"i'll take whatever you got..." i said. "i want you to rig this ship to be the fastest and deadliest ship in the world." i said. there was titanium plating on the hull and balloon. steering and handling upgrades. cannon upgrades... you know, the works.

" my sir... you sure ask a lot." he said.

"and i can pay a lot too." i said reaching into my bag and pulling out a gold bar. the light hit the gold and caused it to glow. the glowing gold caught everyponies eye. "consider this as a down payment if you can do it fast." i said placing the gold on the table. the old stallion just looked at the gold and smiled. he then started to laugh hysterically.

"you've got a deal." he said grabbing my hoof and shaking it furiously. "i'll have her amped up by tomorrow afternoon and i'll be damned if she isn't the deadliest ship to sail the skies." i just smiled and tipped my hat once he let go of my hoof.

"excellent..." i said. "she's docked at 8-C... there are a few ponies painting it up now but i'm sure it'll be fine."

"oh it won't be any trouble..." he said. "now if you don't mind... i have work to do." he said getting the door with his magic. i just smiled and rolled my eyes. we all walked out of the building and then back onto the streets.

"where the hell did you get that gold?" asked twilight angrily.

"oh that... yeah i robbed a bank about a week ago." i said.

"you robbed a bank." twilight blurted out angrily.

"well yeah..." i said shrugging. "did you think i wouldn't rob a bank." i said. she glared at me with fury but let out a frustrated sigh and calmed down.

"i guess i should have expected that." she said.

"so sam... you're friend there... he seems a bit too... nice... to be held up in a place like this." i said.

"eye but he's gotten soft in his old age." said sam. "that there is ol' captain hawk eye... he could sink ships with cannons from miles away with deadly accuracy. they say his one good eye is actually more sharp than a hawk's eye." he said.

"so how in the name of hell is he going to gear out my ship by tomorrow afternoon." i asked.

"i don't know but he just does it..." said sam. "nopony ever seen him actually working but any captain that goes to him has had excellent results." i thought curiously for a moment and just decided to leave it be for now. we kept walking until we got to a large inn. i looked up and saw it was getting dark. "alright captain... i'll head out and get you the finest crew there is... five buccaneers and three deck swabbers." he said.

"we'll meet you at the ship at high noon." i said. "then we set sail."

"aye aye captain." he said saluting me. i tipped my hat and he turned around and was off. i smiled and looked to twilight. she remained emotionless and i just rolled my eyes. "lets go." i said turning to the inn door. i opened it up and we walked in. i looked around and there was a large bar over to the right and pool tables to the left. there were tables and chairs spread out and a fireplace at the other end of the room with a roaring fire. a few ponies saw me and smiled. i walked over and sat at the bar and twilight sat next to me.

"well if it isn't the dreaded captain scar." said the bartender as he walked over to us. "what'll it be for you and the lovely lady."

"something strong." i said.

"alright... and you." he said looking at twilight.

"just some water." she said. the bartender shrugged and pulled out a bottle of jack for me and a tall glass of water for twilight. i chugged down a large portion of the jack and twilight lightly sipped at her cold water. i kept looking at her and she remained indifferent and emotionless.

"what's with you..." i asked. "you've been acting weird, that are you up to." i said trying to get to the root of her problem and why she's been acting strange. "your acting strangely for a pony in you're situation..."

"... why do you care." she said.

"i guess i have been a bit too easy on you..." i said. "but you should feel lucky that i don't make you sleep on the deck during the cold night."

"gee... thanks." she said sarcastically.

"well if you're so thankful for the bed i let you sleep on and the room i gave you i'm sure you'll love me when i let you share that room with seven other grown stallions who aren't only vile bandits but have been working on a ship all day... who knows what could be running through their heads." i said taking a drink of my jack. that phrase made twilight freeze up a bit. her eyes shrunk a little but she tried to keep a straight face and just kept drinking. i looked over and saw the bartender coming back over.

"need anything else?" he asked.

"yeah we need a room for the night." i said.

"certainly..." he said grabbing a key from off the wall behind him. "that'll be 50 bits for one night."

"fifty bits!." i shouted.

"do you want it or not." he said. i glared at him and he just looked at me with an evil and devilish smile. i glared at him with anger... but then i started laughing.

"i was wondering when somepony would grow the balls to pull something on me." i said. "here." i said reaching into my pouch and grabbing a hoof full of bits. he tossed the keys on the counter and opened his hoof up. i didn't grab fifty bits, but only about 15 bits. i pulled my hoof out of the bag and lunged it forward into the bartenders face. he let out a grunt of pain and he flew back into the shelves of alcohol. he hit the shelf and fell to the ground. some of the bottles fell and broke over him... he was out cold. i tossed the money over the counter and grabbed the keys.

"what was that for." said twilight standing up beside me.

"he had the balls to swindle me... but not the brains to remind him that nopony scams me and gets off free... just be lucky he isn't dead... maybe." i said. "lets go... it's late." i said. i grabbed twilight and pulled her along until she walked beside me on her own. we walked over to the stairs and up to the upstairs hall. i looked at the key and it was to room seven. we walked down the hall and stopped at room seven. i unlocked the door, opened it up and we walked inside. i turned on the lights and looked around.

it was a decent room... but still only as good as an inn room gets. like the others there was a dresser, a desk, some carpeting on the floor, a drawer with a mirror, and a small window. there was a bed at the end of the room... only one. it was surprisingly big though. it was a queen sized bed like the one in the captains den of my ship. it could probably fit both me and twilight... maybe.

"theres only one bed?" said twilight.

"apparently so." i said. "i'm more than kind enough to share the bed miss sparkle... but if you don't want to then i hope the floor's cozy." i said.

"i'll take the floor." she said. she started taking off her gear and armor and i did the same. i pulled off my mask and returned to normal and soon after started unstrapping my gear. twilight finished before me just looked around the room and then out the window. i pulled off my duster and last i pulled my hat off my head and put it on the dresser. i looked over at twilight who was looking at me. as soon as i made eye contact with her she turned away.

she walked over to the middle of the room and curled up in a ball resting her head on her arms. i just smiled and rolled my eyes. i flicked off the lights and walked over stepping around twilight. i crawled into the bed and pulled the one comforter over me. i would have thrown twilight a sheet but there's only the one comforter and well... you know, she chose the floor... her loss. i turned over and laid my head down and closed my eyes.

i closed my eyes and started to doze off and i was getting excited about what kind of ship was awaiting me tomorrow. i was finally going to have a crew and my own ship. i know i dress and act with the whole cowboy routine and i think that's just who i am... but really. captaining a ship is much better than just running around. i've got my own crew, my own ship, and i couldn't help but wait until i get into my first battle that i can remember... to be honest i really just want to yell fire and have the cannons fire. i couldn't tell for sure but i certain that i was smiling in my sleep.

i had spent so much time dreaming about being the most feared pirate captain in the world that before i knew it i started falling back to life. i opened my eyes and i looked around. the room was faintly lit up by some light phasing through the curtains of the window. i looked over to see i was at the edge of the bed facing the wall, that's all i could see. i turned over to face the room but as i rolled over i hit something and it stopped me from rolling all the way over. out of curiosity i looked over to see miss sparkle laying peacefully in the bed next to me.

the next thing i noticed is that i specifically recall miss sparkle saying she would rather sleep on the cold floor than with me. i just shifted in the bed until i was facing her and the rest of the room. i looked over at the clock on the wall and it read '6:36'. it was very early and we still had plenty of time to get up and get to the dock before noon. i let out a deep way and laid my head back down. i decided i would rest a bit more before going. i scooted back until my back was to the wall that the bed was leaning on. i laid there and just started thinking about things.

i saw twilight let out a big yawn and roll over in the covers. she rolled over in my direction and right in front of me. she was so close that even with my head against the wall out snouts were pressing against each other. her hooves were pressed lightly against my chest and her back hooves were pressing right against mine. i could move back anymore because of the wall. i wanted to get up but i couldn't bring myself to standing up or moving... it just never occurred to me that i could do that. she slowly shuffled forward a bit and placed one of her hooves on my side. she stretched her other hooves over and pulled herself into me. she nuzzled up against me with her head directly under mine and her horn sticking up past my chin so it didn't poke me. she was hugging me like a big stuffed teddy bear.

my eyes shrunk a little and my ears fell to my side in awkwardness. i didn't realize but i felt myself getting a bit hotter and i felt like i was going to just break out sweating. i took a few deep breaths and calmed down. the feeling soon went away and i relaxed. i looked back at twilight and she was smiling in her sleep. she pulled herself a little bit closer and let out a cute little sigh. this was seriously weird... not only did i kidnap her and am currently holding her hostage but i've stolen from her, hit her, tied her up, taken her magic, tormented her friends, and dragged her away from home... yet she's pressed up against me like a big stuffed animal.

it is strange how some ponies act when they're sleeping. i laid there relaxed but still feeling awkward. the only thing keeping me from pushing her off of me was the fact that i didn't really mind her holding me like that. it's probably the only time i can remember that somepony had held me like this... i'm sure my mother has but never any other pony. she was soft and warm. i could feel her light breathing blowing past the fur on my chest and her heartbeat seemed like it shook the bed. i couldn't help but close my eyes and try to enjoy it while i can. when she gets up i can just pass this off as all her fault and say i was sleeping.

i leaned my back hooves out and they seemed to lock with twilight's. i pushed out my right arm and put it over twilight like i was pulling her into me. i kept my other arm bent and close to me because it was what she was using as a pillow now. i relaxed and started to drift off to sleep without even knowing it. i would keep slipping in and out of my sleep opening my eyes and checking to make sure we weren't oversleeping. every time i opened my eyes the room was completely still and exactly the same every time except for the hands on the clock. they seemed to pass by in 15 to 20 minute intervals.

i woke up to the faint sound of somepony cooing and yawning. i opened my eyes and yawned myself. i looked up at the clock to see that it was almost half past eight. i blinked a few times and found it hard to open my eyes, they felt very heavy. i looked down to see that the sounds that woke me up were coming from twilight. she slowly flickered open her eyes and took her hooves off of me to rub her eyes. i closed my eyes and tried to fake sleep. i kept one partially open and watched her. she brought her hooves away from her eyes and laid her head back down. when she saw that she was only an inch from me her head jumped back a little in surprise. she scooted back a bit and looked me over for a second.

she was looking around like she was confused or something. she looked up over to me and i tried to fake sleep. she looked me and i could partially see her through my partially open eye. she looked at me with confusion but not just that it was kinda like a look of interest. she didn't seem disgusted or put off by sleeping so close to me. instead she did something else that made my heart skip a beat... she just smiled. i smiled at me and crawled over a bit. she rolled up into a ball like last night and laid against me like i laid against the wall. i tried to keep playing asleep but this was getting weird rested on my bent arm and pulled my other arm over herself like my arm was the covers. now it was weird.

i laid there pretending to sleep for a few minutes to make it believable but before i knew it a few minutes had turned into half an hour and it was just over nine. i tried to think about why she is sleeping with herself pressed up against me... she hates the crap out of me. and to be honest i don't care to much about her. i can't wait till we get to the border and i get to kick her purple ass of my new ship. maybe i wouldn't be freaking out like this if i was forcing myself on her or if she had maybe just done this in her sleep... but that's not the situation. i watched her look at me, smile and then press herself against me and fall back to sleep. and i can tell by her breathing pattern that she isn't sleeping... she's just resting.

i decided it was time to get this over with and i let out a loud yawn. i pulled my hoof out from under her head and from over her side and stretched them out. she automatically noticed i was awake and looked over to me smiling. she didn't move but just kept herself pressed against me. though i knew what she did i decided to just play along and act like i didn't see anything. after stretching my arms and legs i rubbed my eyes and opened them up. i looked down and saw twilight who was looking at me with a drowsy smile. it wasn't a creepy sort of smile but a faint and kind smile. she didn't just stare at me with wide eyes either but she just glanced over me with her tired eyes... like how a wife looks at her husband when they get up in the morning.

"uhh... miss sparkle... what are you doing." i said gently pushing her away from me trying to keep appealing to my brutish nature. she backed away and moved to the other side of the bed.

"sorry." she said. "it got cold on the floor so i crawled into the bed... i'm sorry." she said getting off the bed and standing up. i lifted myself up and sat on the edge of the bed.

"thats... uh fine i guess... but care explaining why you were practically laying on top of me." i said.

"i'm so sorry... i must have done that in my sleep... i'm sorry." she said with a worried tone of voice like she had done something horrible... something was definitely wrong.

"alright i guess it's fine." i said. i stood up and walked over to my gear over on the dresser and twilight just moved out of the way as i walked by her. i grabbed my gear and started putting it on. "better gear up... we're leaving today." i said grabbing her robes and belt off the dresser and tossing them over to her. she caught them and put them on with a faint smile on her face... again, weird.

i pulled my duster over my leather armour and placed my wide brim hat on top of my head. i reached over and grabbed my mask. i picked it up and brought it to my face and placed it on. i burst out in a cylinder of black and red flames and i transformed. i let out a deep breath and smiled. i looked back to twilight who was just tightening her belt.

"alright... ready." she said. i looked over her and i noticed the gleaming sword at her side and a horrible wave of truth just washed over me. usually when i sleep i would lock the door to my room but we both slept in the same room. when i went to sleep last night i took off my mask to go to bed. at anytime during the night it would have been so easy for her to grab that sword or even one of my own weapons and kill me. realizing this my eyes narrowed and i started to sweat a bit. instead of killing me like she and most of equestria think i deserve she slept in the same bed as me pressed up against me tightly... there's something wrong... i could have easily been killed tonight. "are you alright?" asked twilight. i realized that i was just staring at her sword and i snapped out of my trance.

"uhm, yeah..." i said. "just staring off into space... lets go." i walked over to the door and opened it up. we both walked down the hall and over to the stairs. we trotted down the stairs and into the bar. it didn't take me long to realize that the bar was empty. as we got closer to the bar counter i noticed that the inn wasn't the only thing empty... shelves were cleaned out. i leaned over the counter to see that bartender from last night laying in a pool of blood and glass... i guess i did kill him with that one punch... sweet. the bandits must have looted this place while he was dead... they even took the bits i threw over the counter and the room keys... really? the room keys. i just rolled my eyes and placed our key on the bar counter and kept walking.

we walked out into the street and i looked around for the way to go. out of memory i took a right and we started walking down the streets. we turned left and right and i honestly had no idea where i was going. there were a few times when i recognized a certain landmark and luckily i wasn't repeating those landmarks so i guess as long as i don't we should be fine. we walked through the streets and i spotted a sign from the corner of my eye. it read: "C Docks" that's the place... we docked at C-8. i followed the arrow at the bottom of the sign and turned a few corners.

i turned over to the docks and saw the ships docked there. i didn't recognize any as mine. i looked to the right away from the ships at the dock labels. no wonder... we were at docking bay C-35. i let out a deep sigh and started walking down the street only bothering to look at the dock signs. i read each and every one out loud in my head until it became a mundane and tedious pattern. i hadn't even noticed when i started to get lower because i was just spacing out at this point. but i managed to snap out of it when i read the sign that said "C-8". i snapped out of my trance and smiled.

"this is it." i said.

"holy crap." said twilight behind me.

"what?" i asked curiously looking over to her. when i saw her she was standing there with her jaw on the ground looking straight forward. i was confused at first and then it came to me... our ship. wanting to see it for myself i turned my head and looked over and my jaw hit the ground too. there was even a crowd formed near the ship. it was the most badass and dangerous looking ship.

lets start with the balloon. first of all the ship is three times its original size and it was huge before. the balloon was a dark blue like the night sky with red and black details lining it. there was metal plating covering spots of it like i asked for. but the metal plating was spiked and painted over to blend in. the top had spines like a dragon. they didn't look dumb and over complicated but they were sleek and smooth. the back fins used for steering were kind of like the spines were they looked like dragons wings plated in metal. and in the middle of the balloon was a symbol that i admired a lot. it was a phoenix like picture that dripped down like it was painted with blood.

the hull of the ship was huge and just shorter than the balloon. it had double masts that connected to metal cage lines that zigzagged across the balloon and holding it firmly in place. it was hard to tell since it was all painted over but i could still tell. like the balloon the hull was plated with metal and it had grooves and details in it that made it look sleek and sophisticated. the main color of the hull was the same dark blue as the balloon also with red and black decals painted and carved into it. and the name was written neatly on the sign in large gothic lettering. "The Phantom Shadow.". aside form the metal plating the front of the ship had a solid metal axe like blade for ramming other ships into oblivion. i also noticed that it needed two anchors to keep it down now.

i started walking forward and towards the ship. all the bandits and thugs crowding around stepped aside so i could be with my ship. it was probably the most beautiful thing i've ever seen. i walked over and there was a large metal crossboard connecting the ship with the dock. it was big enough that three ponies could walk across it at once. i walked onto the ship and twilight did the same right behind me. i took in the sight of the ship.

the deck was finished with a slight gloss to prevent rain damage and splintering. the guardrails of the ship were thick and decorated square posts with equally decorated stands connecting all around the ship to the front. there were four masts that held the balloon up. by each one was rope to climb up and scale the balloon and there were barrels of gunpowder and triangular piled of cannonballs being held down by rope nets. there were places where the guard rails opened up and at those places there were cannons. the cannons weren't on wheels but were part of the deck itself. there were ten cannons on each side of the deck.

i walked over to the bridge and stood behind the controls. they were the most beautiful part of the ship. the wheel was a beautiful glazed black with steel gears and working but a beautiful wooden wheel. the controls were pretty much the same but instead of just one pipe running along the mast there were two on each side of the double masts. they ran up and connected with the balloon to let in warm and cold air. the same with every mast for faster rising and falling. there were cannons placed up here were two on each side.

i walked off the bridge and to the deck. there were two places where the boat dips down to the cabin. there were two underpasses, one not far from the captains quarters and and the other was at the other end of the ship behind the first mast from the front. i walked over to the underpass and walked down the stairs to the cabin. it was full of barrels of gunpowder and open crates of cannonballs. there was a division between the cabin. there was a wall with two open doorways divided by the third mast from the front.

i walked into the other half of the cabin and there were more crates of gunpowder and crates of metal cannonballs. other than that there was also a few hammocks hanging up for the crew to sleep on with some lanterns nearby. at the other end behind me was the crews quarters like before. i walked over to see them and they were much larger and with more appealing and probably more comfortable beds. i walked around the room and twilight had stayed back in the other side of the cabin. i looked around and i even saw twilight's books lying in a stack and one of them was still opened to the last page she was on... that old stallion is good. i looked over at the book she had laid out and noticed it was the psychology book she picked out. i smiled and looked at the page.

"Stockholm Syndrome..." read the title of the page. "a severe and unconditional mental condition were the victim of a kidnapping will fall in love with their kidnapper and express positive feeling towards him/her. this can be caused by a traumatic incident were the victim will force him/herself to accept or deny the conditions of the kidnapping. Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding in which the victim often develops strong emotional ties to any pony who intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates them..."

i couldn't keep reading. i quickly pulled myself from the book and started breathing heavily. i think that would explain twilight's attitude lately. she must have developed a case of Stockholm syndrome... and now she's in love with me. well i guess it can't be that bad. as long as i keep us distant enough and don't let her get too attached i can still just dump her ass at the border and be done with her. i started walking back and noticed twilight wasn't in the cabin anymore. i looked around and saw another staircase going down.

i walked down the staircase and into the next level. like the above there were barrels of gunpowder, crates of cannonballs and cannons. i looked over to see twilight over by some other crates and barrels. they were the food supplies. she was just getting a drink of water. i walked over over and she looked over as she was taking a drink from her glass. she finished the water and placed the glass down and smiled. i smiled faintly back at her as i grabbed some water too.

"do you like you're new ship?" she asked.

"it's incredible." i said between drinks of water.

"that old stallion did do a wonderful job... you should remember to pay him." she said. i know its not in my nature but i think that old colt deserves something good. the ship was awesome. the two bottom layers of the ship were mostly the same. each one had gunpowder and ammo for the cannons. along with that there were also weapon racks with various and each layer had fifteen cannons on each side along with the twelve on the deck. i also noticed that i have way more food than i started out with. i think it went like from three months to almost two years for an entire crew for a ship this big. in front of me was just crates and boxes of food being preserved by magic.

the bottom layer of the cabin was very open however so it would be the ideal spot to put cargo and treasure along with the top layer of the cabin which was still quite spacious. each layer had their own crew quarters. each one could hold 35 ponies each not counting the various hammocks hanging up every here and there. there were three small metal cages on the lower cabin which could hold prisoners. there was even a bathroom... don't ask me how that works because i have no clue... fucking magic i guess. all in all this ship could easily be bigger than three large houses put side by side. i know it sounds ridiculous but i'm not kidding you. the entire deck was about half the size of a track field.

i left the cabins and walked up onto the deck. i walked over to the captains quarters and it was a huge set of double doors. i unlocked them with a key on a key ring hanging next to the doors. i pushed open the doors and strung the keyring to my belt for the use of holding other keys. i walked in and it was like the living room of a couch. there were large bay windows looking out the back. they were thick with a metal grid lining so they wouldn't shatter. there were two large couches and the floor was carpeted. there were two doors on either side on the room.

i walked over to the door on the left and opened it up. it was an office. there was a huge map pinned the wall at my left and a large desk with a nice looking chair. there was a chest over in the corner but it was open and empty. there were shelves and the wine rack was next to them. all the wine and booze was still there and i smiled. i moved to the next door and opened that up. and like i guessed it was the bedroom.

it had a dresser, drawers with a mirror, carpeting a lantern hanging up on the side of the wall and a large comfortable looking king sized were pegs on the wall by the door to hang up my equipment and there was even a nice looking hatstand over in the corner. i smiled and closed the door to the bedroom. i turned back to see twilight still looking around the living room. i walked over to her and she looked over at me smiling.

"the ship is absolutely beautiful." she said.

"uh.. yeah... she is beautiful isn't she." i said.

"oh..." said twilight glancing over at the clock. "its almost noon... we should go and meet the crew." she said. i completely forgot. it's kind of hard to believe i've been looking around this ship for a few hours. i turned to the door and to my surprise that old colt was standing at the doorway to the captains den.

"how are you liking the ship captain scar." he asked slowly walking in.

"you have my gratitude... and i also have the rest of you're payment." i said reaching into my bag.

"you keep it..." he said. i seemed confused. "you've given me far too much already and an old colt like myself doesn't have any need for that kind of money anymore." he said. i just looked at him and tipped my hat smiling. he smiled back and walked away. i walked out of the den to see him on the docks now disappearing into the crowd of ponies gawking at my mighty vessel. i looked over to notice the crowd parting the let through my small crew of seven ponies and my first mate salt-eye sam. they all walked over to the ship gawking like the rest. they all climbed onto the ship and crowded onto the deck looking around. sam stood in front of me and the crew in back of him. as for twilight, she stayed closely behind me.

"i think you might need a bigger crew." said sam.

"you might be right..." i said. i looked past him at the crew he gathered. all the ponies were brawly and strong. they seemed like they had seen their share of battle and they looked like a respectable crew. they were all wearing armor and gear of varying kinds.

"would you like to induct the crew." asked sam.

"i think that sounds good." i said stepping back and giving the crew and i some space for varying reasons. without hesitation sam shouted out to the crew.

"INDUCTION TIME..." he yelled out. "LINE UP..." he shouted and the crew obediently lined up. he stepped aside and i walked forward in front of the line of seven ponies. they were all standing straight and with nothing distracting them or stealing their focus. no emotion, no question, no doubt they were going to be a crew worthy of this vessel. sam walked over and pulled the cross board up and and were no longer connected to the docks. the crowd soon disbanded and went to their regular routine.

"i can see already that many of you will make fine members of the crew. know that you are the first seven ponies to set hoof on this deck... this ship is without a doubt the fastest, deadliest, and largest ship in all of equestria and most likely the world." i said. "of course this will not be the limit to our crew... and maybe at some point we won't just be a large and deadly vessel... but maybe a large and deadly fleet of bandits and pirates alike." i walked over to the first pony and looked at him. "what is you're name sailor." i asked.

"buccaneer black mane captain." he said out loud. i moved onto the next pony. pony after pony i asked their names and they gave them to me ending with 'captain'. i walked back and looked over the seven ponies.

"if you think at anytime... no matter how well planned out or how numerous you're masses are, if you plan to cause a mutiny or overthrow me... it will be the last mistake of you're life... i'm not going to rule with an iron hoof... nor will i be greedy. simply follow my orders without question or hesitation and everything will be fine... when you are on this ship i am you're king... but i don't care to know or bother with what you do off the ship... but you listen to my orders and follow them to the letter... if i am not aboard the ship then temporary power goes to my first mate sam... don't defy orders, don't cause trouble, and don't die... do this and you'll survive."

i took a small pause and caught my breath. i looked over the line of seven ponies and they all looked forward. i felt like i had really achieved a position of power now. but it would feel better if i didn't have just seven crew members on this huge hulking ship. i looked each one of them in the eyes and i could see the loyalty and devotion burning inside the fires of their eyes. i don't know where sam got these ponies but he did a good job picking them out. this is going to be sweet.

"with that said...welcome aboard the phantom shadow."

-Authors Note: i feel like this might have been i bit too quick and with less violence that i'm sure some of you where hoping for. but it's important because this will really apply towards the later chapters. and i have been getting a lot of comments about how scar should realize that he's crimson. well ive already written that chapter and it will be posted in the future. but i'm still open to other ideas... i was hoping for stuff that could apply to any part of the story, like quests or something... something to keep the fire going. but a lot of you guys had good ideas... so that shows me that you guys are pretty creative, which is also a reason i asked... as a test to see how creative you guys are... and frankly some of you people should be writing stories... seriously... the ideas where that good... they where ideas that i hadn't even thought of... but that's the end of that rant... hope you guys liked it. stay shady.-End of Note-


	12. Chapter 12: Facade

**-WARNING-**

**the following chapter contains explicit content of graphic and sexual nature. if you do not wish to see these things please place your laptop or computer inside of the closest and most convenient conventional over... bake for 45 minutes to an hour on high heat. remove the device and let cool for 30 minutes... serves ten. **

**if you do not wish to make a delicious meal out of your computer keep reading instead.**

**-You have been warned-**

"Raise the anchors... Batten brown the hatches, lets go up in the air..." I said barking out orders as the seven crew members scrambled to their posts as we prepared to leave the dock. I walked up to the bridge and took hold of the wheel. I heard the gears churn and the anchors rise off the ground and back into the ship. I pulled the lever and blasted warm air into the balloon and we rose. I turned the wheel and pointed us west as we flew high above the city.

Once we were pointing west I evened out the wheel and started up the propellers. They hummed and churned with life and we started moving. We went slow at first but we gradually picked up speed until we were tearing through the sky with a vicious wind now beating the ship. I pulled back on the speed and the ship slowed down to a steady pace and I locked the controls.

" where are we off to captain?" Asked Sam at my side.

" westward... As to a certain location I'm not sure... But I plan on taking this ship out of Equestria." I said stepping away from the wheel and going down to the deck. " come with my mr. Sam." I said going into the captains quarters. He followed me closely and we both walked in. I brought us into the study and started pulling out scrolls and maps from a basket in the corner. " we should find a place to recruit more sailors." I said.

" aye..." Said Sam. " and if its west were going I know the place to look." He said rummaging through the maps. He pulled out one map and spread it open across the desk. It was a map of Equestria but it was a map of bandit and crimson order camps. " here..." He said pointing to a small black X on the map. There was a name written next to it.

"Firewater Valley?" I said curiously looking at it on the map. It was close to the port we just left and it lies between there and a city named las Pegasus.

" the most vile gathering of scum across the world... Only the strong and ruthless can survive there... It's the perfect place to find hardened sailors." He said. " it's only a days travel at our speed."

" perfect..." I replied smiling. " you obviously have an eye for picking out the best of sailors... You and I will head into the valley and find ourselves a worthy crew." I said looking between Sam and the map.

" we should need two buccaneers for every cannon..." He said. " and I'm sure a few cabin boys wouldn't hurt... We'll also need a cook and a few scouts for the balconies tethered to the balloons." He said. There were long wooden crows nests on each side of the balloon for scouts.

" aye..." I said. " so it's settled we set course for Firewater valley... Mr. Sam you take the wheel... I have something to take care of."

" aye aye captain." He said. I tossed him the control keys and he rushed out to the deck. I slowly walked out onto the deck after him as he was already on the bridge taking way of the ship and moving us a little to the left. I walked to the underpass and into the first layer of the cabin. I looked around and saw two of the buccaneers standing next to a cannon talking. I walked over and they stood at attention as they saw me.

" have either of you seen the purple unicorn miss twilight sparkle." I asked.

" she's in the quarters captain." Said one of the sailors. I tipped my hat and they relaxed and went at ease. I walked away and over to the crew quarters. I opened up the door and walked in. The only ponies in here now where me and twilight who was sitting on the far right bed reading through a book. The rest of the crew seemed to have claimed spots as I saw gear and weapons strewn about a few beds.

" oh hello captain..." Said twilight as she noticed me walk in. I'm still trying to be cautious about this whole, Stockholm syndrome thing.

" how are you liking the crew?" I asked.

" we'll they're not brutish thugs but they are top of the line bandits a will give you that." She said. " you're going to need a bigger crew."

" you seem awfully optimistic for a mare in your situation." I said. "Remember that you're only here temporarily as a buffer to keep the princess and her troops away..." I said. She seemed a little disheveled by that statement but still kept a minor egotistic happiness about her. I walked out of the room and closed the door behind me. I started walking away and I was going to go down and get some food before I heard Sam shout something out.

" SHIP HO!..." He yelled out. I turned my gaze up the stairs to the deck and ran up.

"ALL CREW ON THE DECK CANNONS." I yelled as the entire ship sprung to immediate life and all the ponies including myself ran up to the deck. I ran up to the bridge and saw a canterlot guard ship to the right... Or port side. It was a feeble ship not even half the size of our ship.

" what should we do captain... They haven't fired yet." Said Sam. They where right in the line to fire. I looked over at the ship and one of the ponies was flashing flags.

" what are they saying..." I asked Sam unable to communicate like that. He looked at them for a moment and tried to read.

" they said they want to pass by peacefully." Said Sam.

" fire at their bridge... Destroy the controls." I said to the crew members at the cannons. They responded by swiveling the cannon and aiming them at the bridge of the ship. They lit the fuse of the cannons and fired seven cannonballs at the bride of the ship.

The air rippled and cracked with the deafening sound of cannon fire and the huge metal balls cut through the air. They tore through the bridge of the ship and practically ripped the whole thing off the deck. The ship shattered into splinters of wood and a few yells as some of the ponies were injured. I held up my hoof for cease fire and waited. The crew reloaded the cannons and after a few seconds they started flagging us again.

" they said they're willing to pay for safe passage." Said mr Sam.

" perfect..." I said. " bring her over... Prepare to board." Sam took the controls and started moving the ship around. We passed over to the other side of the boat and floated over close. The crew placed down cross boards and we were ready to board the ship. I walked over one of the boards as the presumed captain of the other ship walked over. He looked over at me and growled.

" scar... Is should have known." He said. The crew rushed over to the other side and got behind the cannons in case this goes wrong and we have to sink them.

" you said something about letting you and your crew go free." I said. He looked at me and let out a deep sigh.

" normally I would never make a deal with the likes of you..." He said. " but we have innocent passengers on board... We'll give you our supplies for safe passage." He said. I smiled.

" sounds fair enough... Have your crew start bringing up the supplies..." I said to the captain. "And I'll have my crew make sure your colts aren't holding anything back." I said. He glared at me and turned to the other guards on his ship.

" you heard... Get to it." He said. The other guards obediently started walking down the the cabin and started carrying crates and barrels across the boardwalk. My crew went over and started carrying things out too. I stood there and smiled as I watched my crew loot the ship. One of the buccaneers walked over to me and stood at attention.

" that's everything captain." Said the pony. I nodded and he went back to the cannons. I walked back over to the guard captain.

" now tell me captain... What are innocents doing on a ship like this... This isn't a public transport ship, it's a war vessel." I said looking at him.

" they're foreign delegates." He said. I looked over at him.

" alright captain... I think we're done here." I said I walked back onto my own ship and he did too. I pulled back the cross board and looked over at the captain.

" what now sir..." Asked mr. Sam.

"...shoot them down." I said. I could see the feeling of dread wash over the other captains face as he heard me. Without hesitation the air was filled with the sound of cannon fire as all seven crew members fired their cannons into the hull of the ship. It was more than enough to bring it down. As the ship shattered and was torn apart with screams and yells of pain mr Sam turned the ship back on its course and we left the ship there as it slowly started falling back down the the ground. I walked up to the deck and grabbed one of the cannon. I swiveled it over and fired it at their balloon. It popped and they began plummeting.

"I say that was a successful first encounter." Said mr Sam.

" I'd call it more of a mugging." I said. " we still have yet to test the full readiness of this vessel against a worthy opponent." I said. I looked back at the crew who was already carrying down the loot from the ship down to the lower cabin. I smiled and walked down and into the captains quarters. I think the crew deserves something good for our first successful day as a unit. I started grabbing a few bottles of alcohol from the study along with the countless other bottles I have in my bag already.

" that seemed like a successful first, mugging, I think you called it." Said a strange voice behind me. I looked back to see it was twilight standing in the doorway. Before I used to have a feeling of power controlling her but now it's awkward whenever she's around. It takes the fun out of having hostages. " although shooting them down was a bit much."

" hello miss sparkle..." I said. " what are you doing up here." I asked.

" well the sound of cannon fire drew me out..." She said.

" that's a good reason." I said. " why don't you help the crew bring down the loot... Were going to celebrate tonight." I said.

" sure..." She replied walking out and onto the deck. I looked out to see her and another crew member picking up a box and bringing it down. I looked up into the sky to see it was fading to a light orange now as the sun was just resting on the horizon. I went to the deck and stood by the back as the crew carried supplies down to the cabin.

Once it was starting to get dark the crew had already finished putting stuff away and they began to flicker on a few lanterns. I did the same across the deck of the ship which was now barren and empty. The deck of the ship lit up as the sun fell off the sky and the moon took its place. The night had finally set in and with it a familiar coldness. But not nearly as cold as it should be. If I think about it, it should be close to winter by now... Hell it should be winter by now, the ship seems to give off its own heat. I could feel it as the wood of the ship was constantly warm and contradicted the cold night air. I turned back and went to the bridge.

" Mr. Sam... Round up the crew." I said. Sam walked off the bridge to the deck and stuck his head down the stairs to the cabin.

" captain called a meeting... Get your asses on the deck." He said. He walked back and the deck soon flooded with ponies standing at attention with the exception of twilight who just stood to the side.

" at ease boys..." I said. They relaxed a little. " tonight calls for a celebration... This is the first successful flight of the phantom shadow... So grab yourself a bottle and let's celebrate." I said walking down to the deck as the small crew cheered. I gave everypony a large bottle of booze from my bag and the party began... Sort of. It was more of a small group of drinking buddies.

We sat at the deck for a while and drank down the bottles of booze. We told stories and jokes like friends would at a bar. Twilight sat down with us too and i gave her something to drink as well. We all laughed and drank our beer for the next three hours or so before the bottles soon ran empty and the party was over. The crew returned to the cabin along with Sam and twilight. Soon it was just me on the deck by myself.

I walked over to the controls and made sure they were locked. When they were I walked onto the deck. I still had some booze left in my bottle so I walked over to the front of the ship and sat down and looked off into the endless night sky. I started to slowly sip away at my bottle. The only light left was a small lantern on the middle mast which did no justice in providing me with light. So I sat there in the dark front of the ship with the light mere feet behind me. i reached up and pulled my mask off. i placed it to my side and let the cool breeze hit my face.

The entire ship seemed silent and still. The crew had turned in for the night and there was nothing around is in the empty sky. Even the propellers on the ship had been quieted down since I reduced our speed for the night. There wasn't any creaking of wood, no laughing voices, and no sound anywhere except for the occasional splash of the beer inside my bottle as I tilted it over to drink it down. The silence was almost mesmerizing. It wasn't a desolate lonely silence... But I thought of it as the calm before the storm.

But then suddenly the beautiful silence was broken by the trotting sound of hooves hitting wood. I looked over and I could see a figure emerge from the cabin and onto the deck. As the light of the lonely lantern behind me covered the figure I saw it was twilight who was walking up from the cabin. She smiled and walked over to me. She left the light of the lantern and we soon shared the same darkness. She walked over and sat down next to me.

" shouldn't you be sleeping..." I said to her. I admit I did sound hazy and a bit drunk... Mostly because I was but also because I still feel awkward around her.

" I thought you would get lonely..." She said.

" I've been lonely For as long as i can remember." I said. " I've learned to live with it..."

" we'll it's not good to be so lonely all the time." She said scooting closer and leaning against me. I pushed her away and stood up.

" you need to remember your place..." I said finishing off the rest on the bottle and tossing it over the side of the ship. " you are my hostage and I don't know what's gotten into that head of yours but remember I said that if you try anything funny i'll kill you."

" you wouldn't do that... You care to much." She said acting like I did really care. Scary thing is that part of me cared about her... But most of me didn't.

" there's the thing... I don't care..." I said. " I hope you can fly because when we get to the border I'm not wasting my time and landing for you... Your getting off right at the border."

" I know you're not like that..." She said. " you're different, you may be cruel and vile but there's a strange goodness in you." She said.

" I'm only kind when things go my way miss sparkle... And you falling in love with me is not part of the plan." I said. She stood up and seemed shocked at what I had to say.

" i would never fall in love with scum like you." She said regaining some of her old anger towards me.

" we'll you already have." I said stepping closer to assert dominance. " I know for a fact you decided to crawl all over me at the inn at the port... You act like your my friend and not a hostage that could be wasted at any time, and then this... Walking up here at the late hours of night and leaning up against me." I said.

" but... I was just..." She tried making an excuse but I didn't want to hear it. I jumped over to her and grabbed her strongly by the shoulders and shook her.

" don't give me any shit miss sparkle..." I said yelling now. " you aren't my wife, you're not my friend, not even my acquaintance... You are my hostage. It is only in my interest to keep you breathing so that I get what I want..." I said.

She looked at me like she was about to cry and I was being very violent towards her. I could tell she was hurting from my strong grip over her arms. I started breathing more lightly and calmed down. My muscles lightened up and I loosened my grip. She looked back at me like she just saw some sort of amazing spectacle... It was a look of wonder. I looked at her confusingly. She looked like she was watching fireworks going off in my eyes and seemed like she was spacing out.

I pushed her back a little as I let my grip go and i stood back and looked at her. she kept the same awestruck face and kept looking at me. i couldn't help but stare back but not in awe... in wonder. i wondered how she could be acting like this. she hated me... i've been an asshole to her and now she loves me. how can that happen... i heard her say that she would see me dead, by her own words. i couldn't help but notice she was slowly inching forward to me. here eyes were as wide as they could be. i couldn't even see the whites of her eyes. i wanted to step back but i felt like i couldn't... like something was there, a wall almost... but there wasn't.

and just as i thought she flung herself forward and wrapped her hooves around the back of my neck. i stared at her in shock and she looked at me with her wide eyes. she leaned forward and planted a deep kiss on my lips. this startled me to say the least. my eyes shrunk and my ears fell down and she closed her eyes in a brace of passion. i could feel my muscles relax and by body start to warm up... even though i was screaming in my head. i wanted to break away, and i easily could. but at the same time i felt repelled by twilight i also felt drawn in and trapped.

i felt a type of passion that i'm sure i've never felt before in my life. all my life i've been vile and cruel, hated by everypony and scorned. i thought i only knew hatred, death, pain, rage and suffering. but now a whole set of new emotions seemed to drown out those other ones. i felt kindness, passion, tolerance, friendship, happiness... and love. for the first time since i can remember i felt like there was a true air of love lingering around me. i'm not sure if it was coming from twilight or me... or both.

the next thing i felt was twilight stick her tongue into my mouth and prod around until she found my tongue. she wrapped around it and i had no will to fight. her entire being seemed to keep me warm through the harsh night cold. she moved her hooves up to my cheek and the underside of my jaw. she held my head like a prize as she had her way with it. i couldn't help but feel my eyes getting heavy and close them as well. i could feel myself falling backwards and for a second i thought i had fallen off the ship until i hit the hard wooden deck. my hat fell off my head and landed beside us.

twilight fell down with me and kept her lips in contact with mine still. she laid on top of me and i rested against the warm deck. i felt she was embracing me more furiously now as her tongue whipped around inside of my mouth. she let out a soft moan inside of my mouth and pressed her hooves against my leather armor. she moved her hooves around and started unstrapping the belts keeping my armor on. she pulled off all the straps and then pulled the leather armor off of me and my duster with it. she let out another moan and i just seemed to sit there and watch, like i had no control over my body.

she reached her hoof down and started stroking the underside of my stallionhood. i let out a small moan of arousal as i could feel my crotch growing harder and harder by the second. she rubbed a bit longer until i was fully erect and ready to go. she pulled herself up and sat down on me with the shaft of my cock resting between her legs right between her lower lips. she started bucking her hips and rubbing her clit against the shaft of my cock. for a second i felt the desire to overpower her... but it was soon drained from my mind. i just laid there and let her have her way... i don't know what is getting into me.

as she continued to rub herself against my shaft i could feel her pussy starting to leak its juices all over my cock, working as a good lubricant. she moaned a little bit and started to pull her lips away from mine but keeping them close. now was my chance to speak up... but i had nothing to say. she slid her clit against my cock all the way up to the tip. she rested back and soon the head of my cock was pressing gently against her folds. she leaned back in and planted yet another deep kiss on me and wrapped her tongue around mine.

she settled back some more and soon my head pushed right past her folds and into the pussy. she let out a moan and broke away from the kiss slightly like before. she pulled her tongue out of my mouth and seemed to be pulling my tongue along with it... or it may have been my tongue was following hers. she continued to push back and my cock went further and further between her legs. soon she hit the bottom and our waists pressed up against each other. she let out a soft moan again and started pulling up.

she stopped close to the tip of my cock and then forced it all back in. she pulled up again then went down, then up and then down, over and over again. i let out a low grunt of pleasure and she started to moan as well. i could feel myself growing hotter and i started to feel small beads of sweat fall from my forehead. she was sweating to and it was falling down onto me as she began to pick up speed and started bucking her hips harder and harder. she let out a soft but high pitched moan into my mouth as she leaned in and planted another deep kiss. i felt her squirt her juices onto my cock and shiver a little.

having climaxed she began to slow down and she lost pace. i had been caught up in the sensation and excitement of sex and i grabbed her flank with my hooves and continued what she started. having thought it was over twilight let out a yelp of excitement into my mouth as i started up and started bucking my hips against hers as hard and fast as i could. i could see that her back legs which were supporting her weight were beginning to tremble and weaken from the pleasure and she was finding it hard to keep posture.

soon enough her back and front hooves gave in and she put all of her body weight onto me. seeing this i rolled over until i was on top now and she laid exhausted with her tongue rolling out the side of her mouth. she had the look of ecstasy in her eyes. i resumed my previous pace and started grunting and moaning as i bucked my hips against her own. i could feel myself getting close. twilight let out another moan and climaxed again which almost sent me over the edge right then. i held it back however and kept bucking.

she let out a constant and low pitched moan as her eyes began to roll into the back of her head. i started straining and breathing heavily as i tried my best to keep up the speed i was at. i kept bucking my hips against her and she shook with every time that i forced my way into her. i felt myself at the edge and let out a low grunt as i could feel myself about to burst. i quickly pulled my cock out from between her legs and it rested against her stomach as i shot my load onto her chest and into her face. i felt like i was going to collapse and i almost did.

before i fell to the wooden deck i stuck a hoof out and caught myself. i turned over and sat down. i started breathing heavily as my body began to calm down and my cock shrunk back into its sheath. i started to calm down and breath regularly as the cool night air slowly began to cool down my body. i looked over at twilight who had passed out in the afterglow. her face and upper chest were stained with cum and she was still leaking a few juices from her pussy. i wanted to clean her up... but i didn't have the energy to do so. i didn't know what quite to do so i just stood up and walked away.

i gathered up my gear and walked across the deck and back to the captains den. i closed the doors behind me and locked them up. i threw my gear on the couch and walked into the bedroom. i closed the door and ever bothered to turn on a light or something. i just sluggishly made my way to the bed and fell down on the covers. i didn't rest my head on the pillow or pull the sheets over me... i just laid there in exhaust in the middle of the queen sized bed.

i have no idea what happened or what strange force drove me to it but it happened and i have to live with it now... the most i can do is just deny it happened and tell nopony. i should have taken the cowgirl as a hostage instead... she would have made a good hostage. i let out a deep sigh and took another breath in through my nose. the room already wreaked of booze, sweat, and shame. i let out another deep sigh and tried to put this behind me and get some sleep. i closed my eyes and started drifting off to sleep. but even in my dreams it haunted me.

i woke up suddenly from a random event of shock and terror. i was sweating and breathing heavily. i started to calm down and scout around the room. the room was pitch black and i couldn't see. maybe it was just a dream. i walked out of the bedroom and saw my gear strewn about the room... that could be coincidence. i walked over to the door and unlocked them. i swung them open and a cool fresh morning breeze had hit me in the face and woke me up.

i looked around the deck and saw nopony was awake yet. it was still rather dark. the sky was a comforting greyish blue which signaled the arrival of the sun. the ship was still again. the kind of stillness that the dead of night can offer and the kind of stillness that is abruptly ruined by the life and energy of the sun. i started to walk down the deck and as the last mast started drifting away out of my vision i came into sight of a tired and revealing twilight... last night was no dream.

i walked over to her and she was still out cold from last night. she had a peaceful look on her face which is ruined by the dried cum stuck to her fur and discoloring it. her legs were spread open still revealing her undercarriage. her hair snaked along the deck from all angles and it was quite messy and ragged. i looked over her and felt a deep stinging sense of shame along with other emotions... some of which weren't as positive as the others. i think i need to deal with her properly now... like a hostage should be dealt with.

i walked up closer and gently picked her up and threw her over my back. she was still asleep somehow and i started walking along the deck. i walked over to the underpass and walked down to the cabin. i walked over and to the second set of stairs to the lower cabin. i walked down and slowly made my way over to the brig. i walked over and grabbed the key ring hanging up. i unlocked one of the cells and set her down on the hard wooden floor. she remained asleep and i quietly closed the cell door and locked it. i held onto the cell key and walked away.

i trotted all the way back up to the deck and then back into my quarters locking the door behind me. i added the key to the brig cells to the keyring already on my gear. after i added the key i started strapping on my gear. i tightened my leather armor around me and then pulled my duster over them. i grabbed my wide brimmed hat and placed it on my head. i grabbed the mask and placed it over my face. i burned with red and black fire and soon transformed.

once i was all armored up i walked back outside onto the deck. the ship was still sleeping and i had nothing to do. i let out a sigh and walked up to the bridge. Having nothing to do and the ships controls already set for our new destination I couldn't help but start to wonder what I was doing. Why did I sleep with twilight last night. The thought of it sickens me now but it felt natural last night. Like I was supposed to, or more like I really wanted to... More than anything. I just can't wait to get the hell out of this country and into some better skies.

I heard the trotting of hoofsteps again and my head was filled with the thought of last night. They sounded just like twilights hoofsteps last night as she walked up onto the deck. When I looked down I was relieved to see that it was only Sam walking up onto the deck. He had a canteen of water across his chest which he was drinking from and he looked like he had just been through a twister. I'm sure that his head was killing him because he kept his eyes squinted and winced every now and then.

"Ah... Good morning mr. Sam..." I said. " how was your night?"

" aye... It was good... Though I'm sure not as good as yours captain..." He said. " next time you wish to have a private discussion with miss twilight... I'd suggest taking it to the quarters... Not the deck." He said. I was immediately rushed with guilt and embarrassment but I crept a smooth posture.

" I'll remember that next time... But miss twilight will be spending the next few nights in the brig..." I said.

" what for captain... Has she done something." Asked Sam.

" no... She hasn't... I just don't want to see her face for a while..." I said.

" aye... Whatever you say captain." He said walking up to the deck and joining me. He looked at me and I tried not to look at him or say much but he seemed to stare right through me. " is there something troubling you captain." He said.

" we'll I should be honest to you Sam... I have been troubled for a while... " I said.

" what's troubling you captain?" He asked.

" we'll Sam... This may come as a shock... But I can't remember a damn thing." I said.

" pardon captain?" He said curiously and confused.

" about a month ago I woke up under a tree on the road to a small town called ponyville... And I had no memory... Strange that I remember losing my memory, but I don't know how or why... To be honest I've just been playing along with what everypony tells me... And I can't quite complain."

" that is quite disturbing captain... And it's also a lot to take in." Said Sam.

" now imagine if you were in my hooves." I said.

" there isn't a time when a bandit hasn't imagined themselves in your hooves." He said. " if it helps you captain, the crew is already saying good things about you... I would expect only loyalty from them."

" and what about these bandits at firewater valley... Can I expect the same respect from them..." I asked.

" firewater valley is a vile place. If you're looking for respect there you might already have some... But you might have to earn some more." He said. " I wouldn't expect a red carpet upon your arrival my captain." He said.

" I wouldn't want one..." I said. I looked up to the sky and the sun was looming gently behind us longing for its high position in the sky at noon. I looked back to Sam. " wake the crew... Tell them to prepare for our landing... I want two of the crew to come with us... The others stay on board. Get to it." I said.

" aye aye captain..." He Said. He rushed down to the deck and then into the cabin. I could hear the muffled sounds of him yelling at the crew to get up. Soon the deck was over run by the crew members.

" don't forget shove some food down yer gullets..." I yelled as the crew scrambled about. " you'll be needing the energy." I said and the crew went and got some breakfast and rushed around the ship eating and working at the same time. I spread my wings and flew up to the crows nest on the left side of the balloon. I pulled out my spyglass and looked around... Nothing. Same with the right side of the ship. I flew back down to the deck.

I walked over to my quarters but before I reached the door my stomach growled in hunger. I stopped and turned around to head down to the lower deck. I walked down to the cabin then down again to the lower cabin. I walked over to the crates and barrels of food and water and by them was the caged up twilight who was now awake and sitting in her cell looking at me strangely. She seemed almost relieved to see me.

" oh thank celestia you're here..." She said. " some pony threw me in this cell."

" yeah I know... It was me." I said. She looked at me with shock and disbelief.

" but why... After last night... I thought you loved me." She said. I immediately cut her off.

" DON'T YOU SAY THAT!" I said snapping at her. She fell backwards from the surprise. " I don't love you... You're just a hostage... And I've been giving you too much leisure... So now I'm putting my hoof down."

"I know you love me..." She said.

"I SAID NOT TO SAY THAT." I said yelling again.

"There no way you can deny that what happened last night was special." She said.

" what happened last night was a mistake... That's all." I said.

" no... It wasn't a mistake." Said twilight. I walked over and grabbed a muffin and some water to take up to the deck. " I could tell you where different... I could feel some kindness In you."

" there is no kindness in me... Only hatred and evil." I said. " and I've been to lenient lately... It's time for me to get my bearings."

" but there is kindness in you..." She said as I walked away.

" miss sparkle you are going to regret those words..." I said looking back at her with an evil glare. " by the end of the day, any good you thought was in me will have vanished." I said, and with that I walked to the stairs and out of the room.

I walked up to the deck and started consuming my breakfast when I was done I threw the scraps overboard and looked around. I looked over and saw Sam walking down from the deck to talk to me. He walked over with a smile on his face.

" I hope this is good news." I said to him as he approached me.

" it is captain... We'll be at firewater valley by noon." He said. This was good news that made me smile with determination.

" good..." I said. " get the crew on the deck."

I have a few announcements to make...

-Authors Note: alright guys... this is the part of the story where you start hating me... give it another chapter or so... the emotions will settle in. i found this chapter necessary and quite useful...(sexsexsexsexsex) just kidding... almost. the scar phase is almost over unfortunately... but if it helps it doesnt end lightly... oh no... not at all. then he returns to crimson. ive already got those chapters written out so i dont need any more people asking for me to make this this and this happen... i feel like im making you guys upset because i cant use your ideas.

also i dont like the fact that the review section wont let me write some of you guys back which upsets me so i cant communicate with you. whenever somebodies username comes up as a default picture it just reads it as a guest and i cant PM you guys... it sucks. i'm not sure why this happens or what i can do to prevent it... but it happens... so please dont hate me if i dont respond to your ideas or anything... it would be better just to PM me with your ideas if you want me to respond back. so yeah... decided to give you guys two chapters today because i freaking love you guys. stay shady.-End of Note-


	13. Chapter 13: Perfect Insanity

**-WARNING-**

**The following chapter contains explicit scenes of graphic and sexual nature... while the nature of the content is mild and suggestive it is rated M anyway. if you do not wish to view such things please see chapter 12 on how do dispose of the problem in a simple, effective and highly rational manner.**

**-You have been warned-**

I paced around the deck with the crew standing right in front of me lined up and at attention. Twilight was still hold up in the brig and my first mate Sam was behind the wheel bringing us into firewater valley which was now only minutes away. It was just a desert village. I could already feel the heat getting to me so I had packed a lot of canteens before we got on the deck.

" alright... Listen up." I said. " we have stopped at firewater valley to recruit a more sizable crew for this vessel... Now I was going to bring two of you with me and ... But I've had a change of mind." I said. " mr Sam are we close to docking yet."I said yelling over to him.

" almost captain... Give her another minute or so." He said. I looked back to the crew.

" while me and are gone you seven are to stay here and watch over the ship... Keep her up in the air... Make sure no pony gets on, if they do kill them and loot them." I said. " is this understood?"

" aye aye captain..." They all said.

" good... And one other thing." I said. " I'm sure you all know of the unicorn miss sparkle... Some may think of her as part of the crew... But she is not and I've been to lenient with her... She is our hostage and is to be treated that way." I said. I took the keys from my belt and tossed the brig key over to one of the crew members who caught it. " are you all aware of who she is?" I asked

" aye captain." They said.

"You are to watch over her closely... If she misbehaves or causes trouble... Or annoys anypony just slap her across the face... If she does then you will all suffer... That is a warning. " I looked over their faces and I could see some fear. " she has been disobedient and troublesome and must be punished... This key is an open invitation to do with her what you will... I want you seven to break her spirit... Do this and we celebrate again... Understood." I said.

" aye aye captain." They shouted out with excitement in their eyes. I looked back to mr Sam who was walking down from the bridge.

" land HO..." He said. " one of you dogs drop the anchors." He yelled out. The pony closest to the cabin underpass ran down the steps and released the two anchors. They hit the ground and we stopped. I walked to the side of the ship with Sam and I looked down at the large desert city below. This seemed like the perfect place to find a crew. The smell of hatred and evil was thick in the air... Oh yeah, this was the place.

" alright crew...the ship is yours until I return... ."

" aye captain."

" let's go." I said walking over to the edge and towards the ropes. I threw them down and we both rappelled down the side of the ship and made contact with the dry desert sand. We walked towards the town and the sand hardened and grew thicker from all theories walking around on it... Almost hardening it into stone.

We walked in and started passing buildings and other houses. We saw ponies out in the roads and in alleyways wearing armor and either dealing drugs or mugging somepony else... I decided to keep my wits about me and my weapon close to my wits. Some ponies gave me dirty looks , the kind of looks I didn't expect from bandits or my own kind.

I watched as a small pony in tight armor ran by one of the larger ponies and snatched his gold pouch from his side and quickly dashed away. The larger pony hasn't even noticed yet... Good thing my gear can only be taken of by my own if anypony tries to pickpocket me... Well they'll be in for a surprise.

" where should we start ?" I asked.

" the tavern..." He said. " it's close by... most of the ponies there are just mercenaries or hired hooves."

"and we can trust them?" i asked.

"i've been with their kind before... as long as you feed them and give them beds, they'll be loyal..." he said. "plus i believe some of the old crew has been hiding out here..."

"i don't think i remember the old crew." i said. "i didn't know i was a pirate before."

"oh you weren't..." said sam as we turned the corner onto a large street. "i meant the old raiding group we had... you were a captain for a while... but then you gave that up... said something about having to do something important... what was that by the way?"

"i don't remember..." i said. "like i said before... i woke up without my memory a month ago."

"aye... so it seems... well i'm sure you might find their ugly mugs similar in some way." said sam.

"aye... i'm sure i might." i said. we continued to walk down the large street when sam stopped in front of a large building and so did i. it was an old run down looking building stained with blood in some spots and with two creaky saloon style doors. the sound of clanging glasses and ponies yelling and cheering could be hear from inside... it sounded like the whole bar was in an uproar. gestured me to go in first and i walked in. the sight i was greeted with was one i kind of enjoyed.

there was a bar and ponies everywhere. there were tables set up all around and ponies were cheering and roaring into a large crowd. there was a crowd at the center of the room surrounding two unarmed and armorless poies fighting hoof to hoof. a good old fashioned math of fisticuffs. i could tell by their bloodied and beaten faces that they were both equally matched and the fight would end soon enough. to say the least i got excited. there were ponies throwing bits everywhere and cheering.

i started walking forward with mister sam and we entered the threshold of the bar. one of the fighter threw a punch and knocked the other guy onto the ground. he struggled to get up but couldn't and this caused the crowd to roar out in excitement. some of the ponies however who might have bet against the winner were yelling with anger and hatred. the loser was dragged off the ring and thrown out of the crowd while the winner did a victory lap and sat down next to a cute mare and took a drink of beer. that seemed rather nice

"ah the circle..."said mr. sam. "also one of the reasons i chose the tavern... the entertainment." he looked over at the ring and then back at me. "i can tell you're itching to have a run at it." he said.

"i am..." i replied. i took off my hat and duster... then my armor. "here hold my things." i said.

"aye aye captain." replied sam. i walked over completely undressed and unarmed now with the exception of my mask which stayed on. i got to the crowd and started pushing my way through as a large more... rotund, pony stood on top of a box with a large cigar in his mouth.

"alright... who's next who's next..." said the pony. "we'll put the stakes at 50 bits... who's going who's going." he said.

"i'll go." said one pony before i could.

"alright a fighter... we need a challenger... any challengers." he said. i just moved forward and stepped into the circle unannounced. the crowd looked at me with curiosity. they seemed to quiet down but only slightly.

"i'll have a go." i said calmly. i was up against a lean athletic looking stallion... maybe even just a colt... he seemed rather young. and i was pretty old if i had to guess... at least in my forties.

"alright we got a challenger... uh..." the announcer stopped. "buddy you gotta take off the mask." he said. i shrugged and reached up to the mask. i pulled the mask off and the glowing behind it stopped and i pulled it down to reveal my face. the once roaring crowd now faded into a strange silence. then there were only whispers and strange looks. i could tell the kid seemed a bit nervous. but the crowd soon started to pick back up. "alright... the stakes are at 50 bits."

"make the stakes 2000 bits." said the fighter. "i can take this old fossil." you're going to regret those words kid.

"woah... 2000 bits it is then... challenger are you up for that." said the announcer. i just gestured for him to move on. "we got a match folks." he said. "now remember no biting, no weapons, and no throwing... with that said... let the fight begin." he said. almost right after the fight was signaled by the sound of a bell ringing in the crowd and the kid started shuffling around trying to make an opening with his hooves up. he was looking at me w=like he was some kind of champion fighter... punk. he quickly dashed in and threw a few punches. only one hit me and it was to the chest... this kid was weak... i'm sure he's fragile too... lets test that.

he went and threw another punch. this time i moved forward at him but instead of meeting him head on i slipped to the left and soon i was beside him. for a moment time seemed to slow down. i glanced over and looked at him and he did to me. i bucket out my back right leg and shot it out. it flew out and hit the kid right in his leg. the bone snapped in half like a twig and filled the air with a horrible crunching sound. the bone didn't stop there and proceeded to fly further and rip past his skin and fur. there was a splatter of blood and he hit the floor screaming in pain and clasping his leg. needless to say the crowd grew silent. the only sound was the kids screaming.

i turned around to face him and walked over. he tried crawling away in fear and pain but there was no hope. i walked over and placed my front hoof on the side of his neck and pressed down with a bit of force. he yelled out and looked up at me with fear.

"no... no please." he bagged. i leaned down close to him and looked him in the face.

"i may be old... but i'm certain that i'll be outliving you." i said. with that out of the way i released some of the pressure from his neck and he seemed to be relieved... wrong. i immediately put all my pressure on his neck and crushed his spine. the air filled with a horrible crunch and snap. he twitched a bit but then fell silent and still. his eyes were empty and soulless and stared forward... he was dead. i looked over the crowd and they looked at me with strange faces. they soon broke out into an uproar.

"there we have it folks... the outcome you knew would happen... scar wins..."said the announcer... so they do know who i am. he walked over and handed me a bag of money while a few ponies grabbed the stallions body and dragged it away. i took the money and left the crowd. the fights continued and i joined Mr. Sam at the bar. i walked over and put all my gear back on including my mask afterwards. the fiery transformation made a few people jump and look over in surprise and awe but after a while that stopped and they returned to the fights.

"thats was a good fight captain." said sam.

"thank you... looks like i do still have some recognition here... though i'm not sure how much it will help us."

"i'm sure it'll all play out." said sam. "in the meantime relax... have a drink or something." i just smiled and gestured the bar mare for a drink. she smiled and quickly pulled a bottle from the counter and slid it over. i popped the top and started drinking. i could tell it was watered down but i didn't care... it was still good nonetheless. i finished half the bottle and sam stood up.

"where are you off to?" i asked.

"to go get you're crew... you may not remember them but i can go and hunt down the old crew for ya." he said.

"alright... i'll sit here and look important." i said taking another swig of ale. he smiled and went off into the bar disappearing behind the crowd. i let out a sigh and quickly downed the rest of the booze. i gestured to the bar mare. "hey sweetie... how about another drink... this time something that ain't watered down if you would." i said. she seemed a little disheveled at my statement and passed me a bottle of beer with a nasty look before turning away. "thanks sweetie." i said. i popped off the top and started drinking it down. it wasn't very strong but at least it wasn't watered down.

about an hour passed and it was about 2:00 by the time i had finished that bottle and another. i couldn't really concentrate and i was pretty drunk. i couldn't help but drink... it was the only thing that made the pain and confusion go away... so i reluctantly ordered another beer and started drowning that down... the beers didn't come in bottle but in large jugs so just three drinks was quite a bit. before i knew it i could feel a pair of hooves on my back and it made me jump in surprise.

"hey there captain." said a female voice. the phrase hit a nerve in my head and made me start thinking of twilight. and before i knew it a light brown mare with purple hair spun around and sat down on my lap smiling at me. she had long hair with bangs in the front and a horn on top of her head. every time i saw here the image of twilight flashed in my head. she smiled at me with want in her eyes as she batted her eyelashes. all i could see was that purple unicorn on my ship... it almost hurt to look at the mare.

"ugh... what do you want." i said trying not to freak out by not looking at her... but it was hard when she's sitting right on my lap so i had to deliberately turn my head away from her.

"just wanted to see how you were doing... saw you're fight and i heard you were the captain of a huge ship..." she said. "i hope the huge ship isn't compensating for something." she said biting her lip and rubbing her hoof across my chest. i can't deal with this right now... i'm really drunk and mentally unstable... i have no control over what my ead is seeing right now and it's driving me crazy.

"please... i need to-" i said before i was cut off.

"hey... hey violet... what are you doing with this guy... he's a drunk bastard... get back over here." said a deep and burly stallion voice from behind me. i looked back to see a large hulking stallion walking over. the mare on my lap seemed angry at him.

"damnit silver..." said the mare. "i told you we're done." she said... this can't be happening right now. the mare jumped off my lap and walked over to the stallion. they started arguing and arguing and the more they talked the more my head hurt. i clasped my head and tried to force the pain out but it wasn't working. soon two other stallions and another mare walked over and added fuel to the fire behind me. they grew louder and louder right behind me and i couldn't take it anymore.

they soon just became a blur of noise and confusion. it started bringing up evil emotions inside of me and i couldn't help but having flashes of evil thoughts run through my mind. they were right behind me too. literally only an inch away from me arguing about something that probably doesn't even matter. my headache kept getting worse and worse and the violent thoughts in my head grew more and more gruesome and evil... but then a single picture of twilight flashed through my head for what seemed like a minute and something inside of me snapped... i was flushed over with unbelievable rage and hatred.

i pushed off of the bar stool and broke through the circle of arguing ponies. i whiped out my tomahawk and brought it up under the huge stallions jaw and up through his chin and skull. i pulled it out and slashed one of the mares across the face before anypony had time to react. when they did one of the stallions went to grab me and i quickly spun around and chopped his hoof off and then sent another blow to his ribs with the spike. i turned again and dug the blade of my axe into the neck of the third stallion and the mare from before just looked over with horror in her eyes... so did the bar.

i reached over to the bar and picked up my jug of booze. i took a drink and smashed it onto the floor. he mare started slowly pacing backwards as i loomed over to her closer and closer with my axe hanging from my hoof. all i could see was twilight's face inside of hers. she was even wearing similar armor to that of what twilight was wearing. the most of the tavern looked over. even the fight was paused to watch what was going on. some of the ponies turned away and ignored it. i kept slowly chasing her back until she bumped up against a wall and pressed herself against it.

"please... no." she said sinking down onto the ground and kneeling with her hooves covering her face. i grabbed her hooves and picked her up and held her up.

"your lucky..." i said in a low voice... almost like i was in some kind of trance, i didn't even know what i was saying. "i thought for a second i loved you." i said as if this mare was twilight... i think i was going crazy. "but in reality i do... i have feeling for you... but you also make me SICK." i said in a low grudging voice. i emphasised the word 'sick' by burrowing my axe deep into her skull. her blood splattered everywhere and i let her go as i pulled my axe out of her face. she fell to the ground in a dead bloody heap and i could feel my sanity partially returning... though not all the way.

i looked around and saw all the ponies looking at me with strange looks. some were in horror, some thrilled that they saw some action, and others looked away. i shook my head and walked out of the bar and back outside. i walked down the street keeping my head low and i stopped when i got to a nice empty and shady alleyway. i walked into the cool shade and deep into the alleyway. a sat down and leaned against one of the building and let out a deep sigh as i took off my hat which was laced with sweat now... as was I.

"what's wrong..." said a familiar female voice beside me. i turned over and nearly had a heart attack when i saw twilight sparkle sitting next to me against the wall smiling at me with ehr big purple eyes.

"what... but- how... you're on the ship... how are... but... why?" i said i asked why because i wanted to know what was happening to me.

"something's troubling you... what is it." she asked. i didn't want to say anything. it must be a trick or something, the alcohol, the desert eat... or am i going crazy.

"i... i-i must be going crazy." i said leaning away from twilight as if she was a venomous snake ready to lunge out and bite me. "you can't be here... you're on the ship."

"crazy or not i'm here." she said. "might as well get used to it."

"why... why did my mind chose you to be my guide through insanity." i said not knowing what i was really talking about.

"i wouldn't guess guide... but you might be right about the insanity thing... and i don't know why you're mind did it... it is you're mind... not mine." she said.

"but we have to share a mind if you came from my mind." i said.

"i guess you're right." she said giggling. " why do you have to do that." she said.

"what." i asked.

"why are you hiding you're feelings." she asked.

"i'm not hiding anything." i said getting angry at her... or me... or whatever.

"see... denial... you don't even want to admit it." she said.

"shut up." i said blocking my ears. but it didn't help, her voice came through as clear as it has before.

"you're so stubborn you wouldn't even take advice from you're own head..." she said again.

"shut up!" i said louder now.

"you need to find what you really want or your just going to run a circle around a pile of lies..."

"SHUT UP..."

"AND CONFUSION..." she yelled.

"NOOO."i said closing my eyes and pressing my hooves against my head. there was a loud buzzing in my ears and i got a splitting headache and the world around me seemed to change... then it stopped. i opened my eyes... and i was alone in this alleyway. there was no twilight... there wasn't even proof she was here... all there was were just a few ponies looking at me from the streets like i was a freak or something... i can't blame them. for the first time today... i don't feel mad. the only thing i hate right now is myself... i can't let this persuade me... it's just my mind playing tricks on me... it's just the heat and the booze.

"i remember the old you..." said a voice echoing in my head... it was her again. "you used to be the greatest pony equestria had ever seen... now you've become a monster." said her voice as it slowly echoed away into silence. now i know not to trust myself. i have no idea what that meant but despite my memory loss i know there was no way in the world i could have been the greatest pony equestria had ever seen... i let out the deepest sigh a pony in my position could let out.

i looked back around the alleyway and saw that a few ponies were coming in through each side. they looked menacing. infact, there were at least ten of them. they all walked over and surrounded me. i kept sitting but put my hoof on my axe. they looked down at me with confusion and interest. it was like they had been looking for somepony and they think it might be me. i honestly hope they just go away and leave me alone.

"are you scar?" one of them asked.

"yes..." i said looking up at him with my glowing mask. he looked back at me with a glare. then to my shock he started smiling with the rest. it wasn't an evil diabolical 'they want me to suffer' smile, it was more like a 'hey hows it been, i haven't seen you in years' kind of smile.

"ha ha scar you magnificent bastard you." he said grabbing my hoof and picking me up off the ground and onto my hooves. he pulled me in for a hug and the others started cheering and laughing. "it's about time you came back... we were getting bored sitting out in the desert."

"who... what?" i asked curiously still ready to chop off this guys head if its a rouse.

"yeah... sam said you would say that..." he said. "c'mon scar... it's us... the old crew." he said bringing a smile to my face that made me forget about my problems from before.

"holy crap..." i said they cheered and the stallion let me go. "that was quick... were there only this few of you."

"scar you bastard... of course not... the rest are still looking around for you..." he said. i straightened up and smiled with a new sense of courage... but i only had this courage because of the crew... there were still a few unresolved demons in my stomach.

"great... go tell them to be aboard the ship by nine tonight..." i said. "i've still got some business to take care of... boys we're gonna have a hell of a party tonight." i said cheering them up and making them roar out in joy. they walked out and started chanting my name. i smiled and just waved as they walked away through the town... well at least they'll be loyal to me. i'm glad they're gone.

i don't really have important business to take care of... i just want to sit here in self loathing for a while before i have to go. i sat back down against the wall and put my hooves on each side of my head. i felt a bit happy and comforting but i still had so many problems to deal with right now... the biggest one is that i'm emotionally unstable. i reached into my bags and pulled out a bottle of scotch i had been keeping in there. i undid the top and started drinking again.

i don't know why but the drinking made me feel more and more self conscious and only made me worse. i thought it would go away if i just kept drinking but i was wrong and it only made things worse. i drank myself into such a state of self consciousness that i thought i was going to start crying. i couldn't see straight and i kept hearing voices in the back of my head. i felt like everypony in the world was staring at me and judging me silently. i tried to keep my spirits up by thinking of happy thoughts.

well... i've got the strongest ship in the world... i have a loyal and wonderful crew. i kept thinking and thinking of more and more things. i'm going to be filthy rich with all the town and villages i'm going to raid. i've got this awesome mask to protect me from almost every danger. i kept thinking and thinking. i cheated death three times in a month. i broke out of the canterlot dungeons and survived a horrible shipwreck. i had plenty of things to be proud about... and i've also singlehoofedly avoided the wrath of celestia more than enough times.

as i kept thinking about more and more things i started to regain my self respect and sat up a little straighter. i put the scotch back and started to regain my posture and poise... as well as i could though, i was completely smashed from the beers at the bar and the scotch i just halved. i leaned my head against the side on the building and looked up to the sky. i could see the light blue sky past the narrow strip of the two buildings.

i went to stand up but i was so unbelievably drunk that i just fell back down. i started to feel like i would pass out and i thought i was going to for a second. but almost like a miracle i could feel an unknown strength pull me up to my feet as i stood up on my own power. i looked at myself and the first thing i noticed was that my armor was now glowing bright red were the symbols are. they glowed brighter and brighter and quietly hummed. i could feel my sobriety returning as i began to think straight and gain more control of my body. and soon the glowing stopped and i wasn't drunk anymore... that was weird. but it was also awesome.

i stood there for a moment in shock and minor disbelief but i soon got over it and realized that its just another strange thing. like everything else that i seem to see. i let out another depressingly happy sigh and walked out of the alleyway and back into the road. as i started walking i looked up and saw twilight. she was walking in front of me with her back turned. i blinked and she was gone... but now she was right next to me. smiling and walking like i wasn't even there. i didn't want to blink in fear of her disappearing but a pickpocketer ran past me between twilight and me. he disappeared and twilight with him.

and again she appeared as a sales pony in a stall handing a stallion a few items. but then like before i blinked and the sales pony wasn't twilight anymore but some other stallion. there was no doubt in my mind that i was going insane. i looked over and she was standing in an alleyway watching me but was gone as i passed the and over i kept seeing her everywhere i looked. there was no escape, no achievable end to this suffering.

when i thought it couldn't get worse i was proven wrong. all of a sudden everything around me faded to blackness. its like somepony painted everything over with black paint, even the sky, it wasn't darkness, everything was just black, even all the ponies were gone. i looked around and i turned back behind me to see twilight standing there and smiling at me. i turned around to see her and she just turned and started walking away. i quickly trotted up to her and walked behind her.

"what are you?" i asked... silence. "tell me."

"if only you knew..." she said.

"knew what?" i asked.

"you were the only one who could help." she said. i still followed her and she took an immediate right turn despite the lack of obstacles.

"i don't understand... tell me now." i demanded.

"so lost... so confused... no direction in life, nowhere to go, only blinding rage and pointless violence." she said.

"WHAT IS THIS" i yelled trying to get a straight answer from her.

"why must there be so much hatred... why must ponies hate in the first place... there's no good in it... only suffering and pain... so much pain... that's all there is in the end... pain... unlike any other." she said in a strange almost demonically monotone voice. it was scary almost how she looked forward without blinking or emotion.

"answer my question first." i said.

"in time... you will know... methods... numbers... the stone... the blade... the hero... you know what others can't know..." she said. i was becoming seriously confused now. my head was starting to pound and everything seemed to speed up. i just followed her and i was scared. i didn't know what was happening.

"what is this." i said almost pleadingly. i was afraid for a rare occasion. i didn't understand anything and i was angry. at first i thought i was angry at twilight... but this isn't twilight, this is myself. so i'm angry at myself... i must know something but this fucking amnesia is keeping it from me.

"July 18th... 2156." she said. what...how... that's not even a possible date. there's no way that can mean anything. it hasn't happened yet and there's no way i'll live long enough to be there when it does happen. i wanted to yell out but soon she faded away into the darkness. and soon after the darkness faded and colors and lights shone through all around. everything became real again and i was in the city again. i looked around to see i was in an alleyway with a few other ponies who were staring at me with interest but confusion.

"yo dude... what drugs have you been doing." he said... yo dude?

"uh... nothing." i said. "i don't do any drugs." i said walking quickly out of the alleyway and back into the town. i kept walking down the road and still i could constantly see twilight's face and shape walking around and taking form. she would keep saying the word 'Remember' which constantly rang inside of my head like a bell. i tried to drown it out with my own thoughts but i couldn't concentrate my own thoughts... i could only see her. i started running and then sprinting hoping to get away but there was no hope. soon enough i realized it was getting dark and i was close to the ship. i looked up and saw some hope in the comfort of the ship.

i spread my wings and flew right up to the top. i zoomed through the air and right onto the ship. i looked down to see the ship scuttling with crew members now instead of the usual seven there were many. i landed right down onto the ship and i got an immediate response from the crew. i looked back to see them and i could see twilight weaving in and out of the crowd of ponies giving me a strange smile. i immediately rushed into my quarters and slammed the door shut. and looked around the room. the bedroom door was open. i quickly ran over and closed it. i looked back and the room was still empty.

i rested up against the door looking everywhere in the room. i didn't want to look away, turn around, or even blink. i didn't want her to be here. i didn't want to be tormented like this anymore. every time i see her its like something clawing at the inside of my brain. its like she's all my memories laid out in front of me but i can't have them... i just can't have peace. why her... why must it be her... what kind of fresh hell has been forced upon me now?

i just sat there looking through the room making sure everything was visible. it helped me gain some of my sanity back not having to see her. but i tried not to blink as much as possible for the fear she would appear in front of me and haunt me. whenever i did blink i was always hesitant to open my eyes and every time was the same rush. i felt like i had already sweat off 15 pounds and i couldn't stop breathing heavily. even though she wasn't here the constant fear of her finding me was almost as bad. just then there was a knock on the door and i jumped. i didn't go for it... if it was somepony else they would call in.

"captain... are you alright?" said a familiar voice. it was sam's voice... it felt so good to know i don't have to be alone now... i shouldn't have kept myself in here. i rushed to the door and opened it up. it was him... and not a trick or something.

"ah sam... good good... it should be close to nine now... help me get the booze out from my office." i said rushingly trying to keep conversation going.

"uhm... alright captain." he said. he looked at me as we walked to the office and i opened the door. he gave me a strange look like there was something wrong... except this time there was... but he doesn't need to know. "captain are you feeling alright... you're sweating like hell." he said.

"yes yes..." i said. "i'm fine... the heats just getting to me... this armor is a bit thick." i said.

"i'm sure a few cold beers will soak up that sweating." he said. i just smiled weakly and we started grabbing bottles of booze from the shelf in here and putting them in small wooden boxes. once we had enough we brought them out to the front of the den.

"so how many shipmates do we have now?" i asked.

"the ships full." he said. "64 buccaneers for the cannons, two each cannon, 8 deck hooves, and 4 cabin colts as well as two chefs and two scouts... its a full crew... right down to the last bed." that statement brought a smile to my face despite my current situation.

"good... good." i said. "get them on the deck... this calls for a celebration." i said. i walked up onto the bridge as mr/ sam gathered the ponies onto the deck and they all cluttered the deck smiling. it wasn't until now that i noticed we were heading back on our original destination... westward. the crew lined up on the deck and i looked over them with a smile on everyponies faces.

"they're all yours captain scar." said mr. sam. i smiled and walked over to the edge of the bridge and they cheered and roared. i raised a hoof and they settled down but were still at a murmur and ready to blow up.

"my fellow brutes," some of the ponies cheered. "bandits." more cheered. "cutthroats" more cheered. "and general criminals." they all cheered. "tonight i bring you together in a grand era... the era of scar." i said, they all cheered again. "this is the mightiest vessel there has ever been... and it has an equally mighty crew..." i gestured to the crew. "there is no doubt that we will grow to be the strongest bandit force in the world..."

" scar scar scar." they started chanting. i raised my hooves and settled them down.

"it is my vision however that this mighty vessel will be the head of a grand bandit fleet... reigning destruction and chaos over all of the world... but this will of course take time... but that's time worth spending... i can promise you anything... money, beer, mares, food, and a place to sleep... all i ask in return is you're loyalty and dedication... if you cannot give me thes things... then we have a problem... is there anypony who would like to leave the crew." i asked. the whole crew was silent. "thats what i like to hear... lets get this party started boys." i said.

they all roared out and i jumped down from the bridge onto the deck with a thud as my hooves hit the ground. the booze were passed around and everypony started drinking and having fun. we even had a few crew members who had instruments with them and were playing them while others danced and drinked. there was hoof wrestling, drinking games, cards, everything you would think that would happen on a ship was happening. the cool night breeze and the cool beer was really keeping my sweating at bay.

we all had fun and had a feast. we had a lot of food that the cooks made and more wine. to my shock this barely put a dent in our supplies. we all sat at the deck and the ponies would tell stories of our old heists and robberies as a crew. i couldn't recall any of them but i nodded and laughed nonetheless. after hearing the stories i couldn't help but see how i ended up getting my title. it wasn't too long before the crew started turning in as it was well past midnight now. soon it was just down to me, mr. sam, and several other crew members.

it wasn't long after that until it was just me and sam now finishing up our drinks. he had a few sips left but i had a a bit left and ever since what happened earlier today i've been sipping it up little by little like wine. the cold night breeze felt good even though the ship was generating its own heat some of the night coolness managed to get through. i was already feeling pretty drunk but i could still think straight... well straight enough. sam downed the rest of his bottle and chucked it over the side of the ship with a smile. i smiled to in my drunk fluster.

"you know... i never told you this... but you're a great guy as far as bandits come." he said. he was a bit off his edge but i could tell that he knew what he was saying.

"thanks sam." i said taking another sip.

"i mean it." he said getting up. "you treat the crew well and you're the most cold blooded killer out there... i don't know how you do it... but i think it's what's great about you."

"sam you're drunk..." i said chuckling to myself.

"that may be true." he said. "but i mean this... i'm not sure how you do it... you're the kindest but cruelest bandit i know... i don't know how you do it..." he said. i started laughing in a drunken haze again. "i think i'll be turning in now." he said.

"good night sam." i said. he walked over to the stairs and saluted over to me as he disappeared down the stairs. once he was gone i let out a deep sigh and finished off the rest of my booze and threw the bottle over the side of the ship. once again the ship was filled with a longing silence. i let out another sigh and stood up. i got my bearing and started walking down to the lower deck.

i walked down and the entire deck was asleep. there were a few ponies in hammocks but they were out cold. i walked down to the second level of the brig and the same could be said here too. i walked over to the food storage but i stopped and turned to face the brig. i looked over and saw the cell twilight was held up in... to be honest i don't think she had a lot of fun. the crew did what i thought they would do but with a much larger turnout.

she laid messy and sprawled out on the hard wooden floor with her private parts revealed. she and the cell were both soaked in semen and other sexual fluids. she was covered head to hoof in cum and her pussy and ass were spread wide apart. it almost hurt to look at her like this but i tried my best to stay angry at her... but i don't know why i was so angry... and why at her... she hasn't done anything. but i can't admit that, i don't want to admit that, i want this to be her fault so i can find peace in myself but i can't... she can't be blamed. i leaned forward and hit my head against the bars in frustration. she seemed to spring to life and look at me.

"no please... please no more... please." she said almost crying and backing away as she covered her genitals. she had tears rolling down her face that tried to wash away the mess.

"i don't want to hurt you." i said showing her my face as i turned a torch on nearby. she seemed even more sad and confused.

"why would you do this." she said through her tears. i wanted to yell or something.

"because... i... well..." i wanted to blame her but i couldn't... i couldn't find the words to do it. "i don't know..." i said.

"how do you not know." she said yelling with pain filled tears. "why... what did i ever do?" she asked in between sobs and cries.

"nothing." i said after letting out a big sigh. i fell to the ground with my head pressed against the bars and i looked at the ground not having the heart to look at her. any hatred i felt towards her now is gone and i felt only self pity and regret. "you didn't do anything... you've only been suffering." i said. "i admit i felt feelings for you that i didn't want to feel... and that made me confused and angry... and i took it out on you... i went too far."

she didn't answer. she just kept her head down and curled up into a ball and started crying. it was a silent crying. not like a childs loud wailing when he doesn't get what he wants but instead it was a silent remorseful crying... like at a funeral. i couldn't help but feel a few tears falling from my own face and falling down past my mask. and then i did the one thing i thought i would never do, nor would i hope anypony would catch me doing this... i cried too.

i started weeping silently with my head against the bars. i didn't know what was wrong. it was like i was some kind of good person on the inside trapped by a shell of evil. i had to sit and watch the evil kill everything around me. i can't explain why i was crying now... i just was. everything was so confusing and i was scared and i didn't know were i wanted to go or what i wanted. instead of turning that into anger like i always do i turned it into tears. i had to anger to fuel with my feelings... so the next best thing was depression.

"i'm sorry twilight..." i said. "i don't know what i'm doing... i let my life run on hatred... i still can't believe i would ever be such an evil pony... i just don't find it possible... but i have the black heart and the anger to be such a cruel pony... but i've got more than just that... and those feelings are constantly clawing at my head... driving me insane." i said "i can't take it anymore... the pain the voices the images, they won't stop... all day it's been nothing but reminder after reminder of what i've done wrong... and i always feel like i regret my decisions no matter what they were... i can't take it anymore."

i felt like i was going to scream but before i could i felt something press against my head. i looked over to see twilight was leaning against the bars with her head pressed up against them were mine was. she looked at me with pity and tears of pain. i looked at her the same way but my pity was directed towards myself. i felt regret and shame for this... i don't think i can ever truly let this down. we just stared at each other and it seemed to make everything alright at the moment. but i didn't want to look away and face the cruel reality of life.

"twilight... i'm sorry... can you forgive me?" i asked. she looked at me and a few more tears welled up in her eyes.

"no..." she said. "i can't... you don't know what it's like... not just the rape... but because you allowed for them to do this to me... i can't forgive you... nor do i think i love you anymore... you were right... it was just something wrong with me... but i see now that you are a horrible monster inside and out." she said. this brought fresh tears to my eyes as i tried to hold back my crying. she herself went back to crying in the corner. i got up and walked away trying to hold back all of my tears but i couldn't do it too well and i ended up trailing tears all the way back up to the deck. before i got to the deck i stopped and swallowed my pride and sorrow. i need things to be right... what the fuck is going on with me.

i raced back down to the brig and twilight looked up at me with hatred and spite inside of her eyes. i looked at her with sorrow and self pity and grabbed the keys hanging up on a support beam behind me. i unlocked the cell and walked in. she just back up and curled into a ball.

"twilight please."

"no... leave me alone... i have had it with you... all you've done is make me suffer and i hate you." she said. those words stung like a knife but i kept strong and walked forward. "what are you doing... fuck off, let me go." she said. i picked her up and carried her on my back. she struggled but i carried her up to the deck and she would thrash and i had to hold her down with my wings. we finally got up to the deck and we went into the captains quarters. i placed her down and closed the door.

"please just listen..." i said.

"no... let me out of here." she said.

"i want you to stay in here tonight." i said. "clean up... and use this to unlock the ring on you're horn." i said tossing her the magic key to unlock the ring. she looked at it with confusion and shock.

"stop playing these games." she said. "let me go."

"it's not a game... dammit no more games... just fucking go wash up and be happy dammit." i said yelling at her. she seemed taken away that i wanted her to be so happy i would yell at her to do so.

"but if i unlock my horn aren't you afraid i'll teleport away." she said grabbing it and using it to loosen the ring and slip it off.

"i'm sure you will..." i said. "then celestia will find us and burn the ship down and us with her fiery wrath." i said. "she'll probably salvage me only to torture me and then make a public execution... probably the old beheading." i said smiling a chuckling a bit in a blur of dementia.

"why are you doing this..." she asked.

"because i'm done... i can't do this anymore." i said.

"what?"

"i'm going insane... voices in my head keep telling me to remember... i just can't... no matter how hard i try i can't and my mind is torturing me to remember... i'll probably end up jumping off the side of the ship if celestia doesn't get to me first." i said "either or works for me... but i want my crew to get out of this unscathed... so i might just jump and save them all the trouble... and to think after all this work."

"but... you can't think about suicide... what happened to those big plans of yours. "said twilight.

"i never had any plans..." i said. "my goal was to go west... to go fucking west... i don't even know what the fuck IS west... could be anything." i said. i watched as twilight used her magic and in a flash she was clean and neat looking.

"but... you can't just give up." she said.

"why do you care..." i said. "i thought you hated me... you have more than every right to hate me... i hate myself and i'm not the victim here... all i ever do is hate... but i don't want to hate and kill anymore... i don't want to hurt innocent ponies and rob them... i thought i did but the more i thought about it i realized that even though i can have what i want, i don't always want what i have."

"you can't just end it all." said twilight. "yes i may have hated you... then i do realize the syndrome i developed but i can't say i was totally wrong... i knew there was good in you... i told you and you're evil ego pushed those thoughts away... i always knew." she said.

"i had a feeling you would say that... and you probably hate me now." i said. "and i'm sure that you would love to kill me right now." i said. "just grab a knife and start stabbing me through the slots between the metal plates... i won't care." i said.

"i would love to cut you open more than anything right now..." she said. "but i can't... i couldn't bring myself to it."

"great..." i said. i turned my head to the open study and saw the shelves of alcohol. i got up and walked over. "i'm going to go drink myself to death." i said. "i think that would be the best way to go out." i walked over to the alcohol and popped open one of the bottles. i put it to my lips and started chugging it down. but soon the bottle flew out of my hands and so did the other bottles from the shelf. twilight used her magic to take them all away.

"i'm not going to stand here and watch you drink you're way to death." she said.

"then don't... go..." i said. "fucking go, i just gave you the keys to you're freedom... get the fuck off my ship." i said already feeling the affects of the alcohol i just drank. i pulled off my mask and let it drop to the ground. i soon took off my other gear as well until i was clothesless. i wanted to be sort of free for my battle with death... besides i don't need those anymore.

"i'm not going... and i'm not going to let you die." she said.

"what is you're problem... are you fucked up in the head again..." i said. "i just sicked seven of my crew mates on you all day today and now i'm trying to kill myself and you're stopping me... what is you're problem."

"my problem is that i know you're better than this." she said. "everypony else may have given up on you... but there's a strange presence about you... i don't know what it is but i know you're different... you're something else." she said.

"twilight just shut up and give me back the beer." i said. she looked at me with a glare as i walked over.

"no..." she said. "i won't let you kill yourself. i went to grab it but she pulled it away. she held it and i went to take it from her. in my drunken state there wasn't much i could do against her.

"damnit twilight stop this." i said. she kept resisting and her horn glowed. she used her magic to pick me up and hold me in the air. she turned me upside down and dropped me on my head. i went out like a light and fell into darkness. i slowly slipped away and i could see was twilight's face mocking me and haunting me with her silence and indifference.

why can't things be easy...

-Authors Note: alright guys i'm not going to say much about this chapter for now but i think it came out pretty good and the insanity clause helps too. as some of you have heard there is a huge blizzard approaching the Boston and Massachusetts area of the U.S.A.. i unfortunately live in this area and the storm will be upon us tomorrow. this may be the last time you guys hear from me for a while should we loose power. for anybody who is reading this and lives in the north east i wish you luck and hope you all brave the storm... i'll see you bro's whenever. stay shady.-End of Note-


	14. Chapter 14: Blinded In Chains

I slowly flickered to life and slowly opened my eyes. When I was a bit more conscious I could see that I was in my bed now in the captains cabin. I looked around and saw that twilight wasn't in the room. I started to remember everything from last night. I let out a deep sigh and just laid back. I looked around and the room was completely empty except for my gear and hat hanging up in the corner.

There was a knock at the door and without answering it the door swung open. In stepped a smiling twilight sparkle with a tray of food and water floating next to her. She walked in and smiled at me as she levitated the tray over to the bed and rested it down next to me. She soon waked over and sat down by the bed on a chair.

" good morning." She said.

" why are you still here... What is wrong with you." I said.

" there's nothing wrong with bringing you some breakfast."

" I destroyed your soul..." I said. " you should be holding a knife at my throat."

" and I think anypony else would... But a friend of mine once said, " twilight, it's not about doing what you want... It's about doing what's right."... I still live by those words more now than ever." She said.

I was going to reply to her but my head started pounding and a high pitched ringing shattered my ears. I cupped them and grit my teeth. I cringed and closed my eyes. When I looked back I could see we were surrounded by some kind of black fog... But twilight didn't seem to notice. In the fog I could see faces. They were mocking me, laughing at me... Watching me suffer.

" are you alright..." Ask twilight... Her voice was hazy and barely came through.

" remember... Remember." Said the voices in my head... It was the faces telling me to remember... They were faces I've never seen before. They just watched and laughed at me. They chanted and laughed at my misery, it was driving me insane.

" damnit... Stop... Go away leave me alone." I said yelling at the voices to go away and twilight looked around the room.

" I'm not going anywhere... I'm staying here." Said twilight. The voices just continued to laugh and chant.

" remember... Think...concentrate... Remember." They kept saying over and over again. The faces kept changing, disappearing in the black fog. Old ones faded away while new ones crept in. Everywhere I looked it was a different set of faces. " remember remember remember." They chanted louder and louder.

" I can't..." I said. Twilight looked around the room confused. " I can't remember... I can't do it... Stop make it stop." I said as the pain in my head was now growing to become unbearable. I started to feel unnaturally cold and started shivering even under my bed covers. I could feel something clawing at the inside of my head and my body... It was torture.

" scar... Are you alright... C'mon scar snap out of it." She said. I looked at her she seemed normal. But there was a flash in front of my eyes and when I saw her next she had changed. She was glowing. She had glowing cracks and cuts over her body and her eyes were glowing as well. She looked at me and even the inside of her mouth was glowing. " why can't you remember." She said in a demonic voice.

" I can't... I can't remember... Go away." I said backing up in shock and yelling at her.

" you need to remember... Remember scar...remember." She said. Slowly the black fog flooded over the room and the high pitched ringing started to grow higher and higher almost making my ears bleed. Once everything was dark the fog seemed to fade away and give light to the real world. Though the voices in my head would whisper to me every few seconds. I looked around in shock and twilight was sitting there trying to shake me to life. I couldn't hear her but as the high pitched ringing went away her voice gradually came into my head.

" scar...c'mon scar snap out of it... What's wrong what's happening... Damnit answer me." She said shaking me. I quickly pushed her hooves off of me and backed up.

" let go..." I said. " don't touch me... Just go... Go now and don't come back." I said to her.

" I'm not leaving... There's obviously something wrong with you... You need my help."

" dammit..." I said. I jumped out of the bed and grabbed twilights hooves and pinned her to the wall. She didn't try and fight back but I stuck my face close in to yell at her. " why are you helping me... Stop it... You are supposed to hate me... Stop trying to care... I'm not worth it. I told you to get off my fucking ship... Now go... Get the fuck away from me." I said yelling at her. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and it open right up. It was Sam.

" captain we have a problem." He said in a panicked sort of voice... Dammit not now.

" what is it..." I asked. I walked over to my gear and started strapping it on to be presentable to the crew. I put on the leather, the duster, my hat and then the mask. I transformed and I was ready to see what this problem was.

" you need to see for yourself." He said. I let out a frustrated sigh and quickly walked out of the captains quarters with Sam. I walked out onto the deck and looked around. When I finally saw what sam was talking about I agreed that I would need to see it for myself. He was also right about us having a problem... A really big problem.

At the front of the ship was another ship of equal size and firepower. It had a golden plated hull and a blinding white balloon. The balloon had a symbol of the sun on it and it was blocking out path. The ship was at a stop and the other ship was only a few feet away. The opposing ship was littered with guards and others is in golden armor. And standing at the front of the ship was the one pony I was hoping not to ever see again... Princess celestia.

She glared over the ship with vengeful eyes and a battle ready suit of armor. She wore a tiara like helmet and golden plated armor. It was flakey and layering like feathers on a birds wings. I had a dealing this wasn't going to end well. I walked to the front of my ship and up to the forward pike like she was on. I walked forward and we were soon at the tips of our own vessels only feet away. I stared at her and she glared back at me.

" you've crossed the line scar..." She said in a hateful and controlling voice. "You've tortured and defiled my faithful student and have ravaged this land to the brink of chaos... You will suffer for your actions."

" I always had a feeling we would see each other again..." I said. "And I don't think I could have pictured a better way than to go out swinging."

" surrender now and you're crew will be spared... And you will be taken back to canterlot for immediate execution." She said. I looked over at my crew. I could tell they were itching for battle. I looked back over at the princess's ship. It was a mightier vessel than ours and would easily destroy us without a sweat. I could even tell by the Cain glowing around the hull that it was protected by the princesses magic... There was no way we would win. I let out a sigh and walked away and over to my crew.

" where ready captain..." Said one of them..." Let's get this bitch." I walked over to mr. Sam who was ready and eager for battle. He looked at me and I walked over to him.

" what are the orders captain." He asked. I looked around a bit more at all the eager faces... Some of which I came to somewhat care about. I never thought my pirating dreams would end so abruptly and like this too. " captain... What are your orders?" He asked again. I let out a deep sigh and looked over at Sam.

" stand down..." I said quietly.

" w-what..." He said in shock.

" stand down... Everypony stand down." I said yelling out to the crew. There was whispering and ponies were looking at me with confusion and shock.

" captain... What are you talking about?" Asked Sam.

" I'm done..." I said. " I can't keep this up... It's over for me." I said.

" no... We can win this... We can carry out your dreams." He said.

" but that's all they where... Dreams... Now I have to wake up and face reality." I said. " there's no way we would win against that ship... It would destroy us without mercy... But I won't let my dreams die with me..." I said. I took off my hat and passed it over to Sam. " you're the captain of this ship now mr. Sam." I said. " take care of her."

He just looked at me and took the hat. He gently placed it on his head and looked back at me. He looked like he was going to cry but he was tougher than that. He sucked it up and stood at attention and saluted me. I turned to the rest of the crew who did the same. I walked back down the deck and passed by the saluting ponies.

One by one as I passed them they're defaces grew more and more upset and sad. Soon enough I got to the forward pike and stood only feet away from the princess. I looked up at her and she looked down at me with pity and condescending eyes. But under that was a feeling of surprise that I would so easily give up and go out as a kind of hero to these ponies.

"I take it you're coming with me then." She said.

" yes... I am." I said putting my head down. Her horn glowed and both me and her where now on the deck of her ship. I looked back at my ship and saw the crew still saluting me away. In a bright purple flash I saw that twilight sparkle was now on the ship. The princess seemed happy to see her. She went to her student while the guards started toeing me up with cuffs and rope too.

" twilight... Are you alright?" She asked comforting her student.

" yes princess I'm fine." She said. She looked over at me with regret and pity.

" don't worry... You're safe now... And scar will pay for what he's done." Said the princess looking back at me and scowling. I just stared at her through my mask.

" princess... Does scar really have to die." Asked twilight. The princess seemed taken back by what her student said and looked at her confused. She seemed to be at a loss of words so I spoke up instead.

" don't listen to your student celestia..." I said. She looked back at me and scowled again but listened to what I have to say. " I'm sure that she's developed a case of Stockholm syndrome... She's been acting strange for the last few days."

" you be silent." She said snapping at me.

" it's not true princess... I'm completely fine." She said.

" no she's not..." I said.

" I said be silent." Said the princess snapping at me. " I don't believe you." But she'll believe her most faithful student.

" why don't you tell the princess about that one night on the ships deck twilight..." She seemed to freeze. I don't know why I was trying to point all of this out. I guess it was to make twilight seem like an innocent victim with a mental health problem... But I think it was just making me look like even more of a monster to the princess.

" I said to be quiet." Said the princess ready to tear my head off. She probably would have if twilight hadn't spoken up.

" uhm princess... We need to talk." Said twilight. She looked down at her student and twilight just looked at the floor with a guilty frown. The princess looked back to me.

" bring him down to the brig... " she said to the guards. They grabbed me and started carrying me down to the brig. I watched as celestia walked into the captains quarters with twilight under her wing. Then that image faded as we moved below the deck and then down to the bottom of the ship. The guards opened up the brig cell and pushed me in.

They forced me into the cell so I went face first into the back of the cell and then fell back. They looked at me with disgust then left. I laid there inside the cage a little disoriented and confused from the collision with the wall but I started to regain control and laid there on the floor. Even though I accepted my fate I wasn't very comfortable being tied up.

I wriggled around and shifted in place trying to loosen the ropes binding me. It was starting to work and the ropes started to loosen their grip around me. I was able to get one hoof loose but the ropes wouldn't loosen up further. I laid there struggling some more but with little effort. I gave up and relaxed and let out a deep sigh. I could move my right hoof around a bit but the cuffs around them weren't helping.

With great efforts managed to reach up a little bit in an awkward position and grab my axe. I pulled it off and slightly and slowly started moving it around under the rope. I managed to get the blade up against the rope. I started slowly rubbing it against the ropes little by little. I could feel it sort of working but it was going to take a long time. It was about another five minutes before the rope snapped and loosened greatly. I had better control now and I was able to cut through the rest on the rope.

When I cut through all the rope I stood up and stretched my legs. I walked around my tiny little cell and tried to be at peace with my life. But it wasn't working and I was starting to become afraid. I knew now that if the princess is watching over me now i'll never be able to escape of survive. But maybe if I keep my mask on I won't die. That might help... I hope. I paced around and I could hear the voices in the back of my head grow louder and the world seemed to spin and shift around me.

"Death... Pain... End to suffering." They said. I couldn't shake them out of my head but at this point I came to accept it and just let them talk. " war and anger shall reign... The clash of iron can be heard... The green will run red with blood... And darkness will cover the light." They said. I had no idea what it means... It sounded like some kind of puzzle or riddle... It didn't matter to me though because I'm just going to die anyway.

The voices kept chanting and chanting over and over again. They continued to tell me to remember even though it was useless at this point. Then before I could hear the other voices they vanished and there was a great flash of light in my cell. The light pushed me back and I hit the other side of the cage with incredible force. It made me cry out in pain. Even with my armor that hurt like a bitch. When the light cleared I could see celestia standing there with white glowing eyes and hatred filling her face. I don't think things went over well with her and twilight.

" you..." She said in a multi toned voice. " you will pay for your evil..."

" just get it over with." I said sitting there.

" no... You will be executed properly... But for now... You are mine." She said. Her horn glowed a bright bright white and I could feel the mask on my face crack and shatter. It fell to the ground in pieces of metal and its effects wore off. It was gone now and I was vulnerable to the wrath of the princess. She shone her horn again and I started rise up into the air.

This can't be good...

-Authors Note: * queue dramatic music* DUN DAH DUUUNNNNN... torture. so yeah this is the fall of the bandit king scar. and you probably all know whats coming next. i'll give you guys a hint (inspired by the french revolution)... if you know your stuff you'll have no problem figuring that out. so i gave you guys another chapter because i'm very certain i wont make it through the storm without losing power for extended periods of time. so you where either smart and saved this chapter for later or you weren't... doesn't matter to me.

so i also got an interesting PM from a fan who will remain anonymous... he said that i should go outside and do stuff instead of sitting at a computer and writing this dumb story... those where his words and not mine... except the letter was quite vulgar and strongly worded so i did cut a few words out to keep it PG. and this wouldn't be the first time somebody has thought this... though the others weren't so violent about it. just so that there's no more confusion i'm going to clear some things up about my life and also get to know you guys a bit better.

first of all this (believe it or not) isn't my life right now. i have a wonderful girlfriend who is a pegasister. ive got many friends not all of which are bronies but that's fine with me. i play guitar, draw amazing pictures, and make videos... guys i go to the freaking art institute in Boston .. my day is full of music, drawing and animation... not only that but i study martial arts and i've got a black belt in kempo karate and jujitsu as well as years of training in MMA kickboxing. i run and play outside and go to the beach with my friends when its nice and not raining a snowy destruction. i love drawing and music and i love what i do... i even have a YouTube channel where i posted a few songs a while back that i made on my computer (channel name is the same as my fanfic name). go and check them out.

i'm not showing off and telling you guys that my life is better than yours... because i'm sure all of you guys have wicked awesome stories to tell. and i would love to hear them. i'm not going to be some kind of creepy and mysterious writer... i want to be friends with you guys. if you've got a story to tell that you would like to tell or if you like music and stuff too and you happen to have a YouTube account with music on it tell me... i would love to hear it you guys. you can just PM me... trust me i will respond back to you i promise... if i dont you can go ahead and quit reading my story and slander me in the comments section. unfortunately for some some of you guys i do not have a Facebook, twitter, or tumblr... i dont believe in social networking... i think it's disgusting and complicated.

so again i'm sorry for the wicked long rant you guys but it's been one of those days. i really felt like i needed to vent, but dont think that any of the stuff i said isn't true. just PM me about whatever and we can talk. i dont give a fuck if its related to the story or not. but i am glad that a lot of you guys message me and comment on my stories, it means a lot. so again i hope you guys have a safe weekend especially if your in the north east area like i am. i probably wont see you bro's for a while, so have fun with whatever awesome stuff you do and i'll post again as soon as possible. stay shady.-End of Note-


	15. Chapter 15: How Easy The King Falls

For the rest of the day the princess tormented and tortured me. The pain of both the physical torture and the mental torture was more than enough to drive me to madness. I would beg and plead them to stop when nothing was happening. I was even beginning to imagine them torturing me even though no pony was there. It was easy to tell that I had finally slipped into madness and my mind was an empty husk at this point. I started talking to objects and even myself.

I developed mood swings and started hallucinating. I could see faces everywhere watching and guards coming at me with sharp weapons. The hallucinations were so bad I even began to feel the sharp pain of their spears even though they weren't there and they didn't make wounds. I even became so frantic that I tried digging my way out through the bottom of the ship. The only good that did was fill my hooves with splinters and wear them down until they were bleeding and the skin and hoof had peeled away only showing raw flesh.

In my head I could constantly hear whispers which would grow into violent shouts at any given time. They all told me things. They told me to remember... I can't remember. In fact the more I tried to remember the more my insanity took hold and I even began forgetting things from only weeks ago. The more I tried to remember the more I forgot. There were even some points where I would just be washed over within and cry out for it to stop. And if I cried out loud enough it would.

After my scenes of insanity and mental instability the guards gave up on torturing me and I went back to my little cage. It seemed to be the only place keeping the darkness out. Everywhere I went a black cloud would float around me and only give me enough space to see about three feet all around me. It was just as big as me cell and would creep along the bars like a parasite. It never went away and I couldn't see, hear, or sense anything outside of the darkness. The black fog was always showing me new faces and old ones too. They all laughed at me.

I knew that I would slowly slip into a greater madness than this. It had been two days already... From what I can tell though. The guards usually come in and beat me to near death every day or so. They would bring me back with healing potions and if I started to slip away they would use magic to shock me back to life. It was probably the worst pain I've ever been in. The cell was cold and it seemed to grow colder every day... Soon there was an unlocking sound at the door to my cell. I thought it was the guards come here to beat me again so I shriveled up in fear and covered my head.

" I can't believe this." Said a strange voice. The door opened up and a purple unicorn walked into the cell and out of the darkness. She looked familiar. I soon recognized her as twilight sparkle... I can't remember much about her with my current state of mind but I was afraid of her. It's usually the unicorns that hurt me the most. She walked over and looked at me with pity. Her eyes seemed to calm me down and I was feeling less afraid.

" please... Leave me alone." I said wondering if she was really here to torment me.

" I'm not here to hurt you..." She said. " I can't believe what you've become... You used to be strong and hardy... But I can see now that your mind is slipping and the torture isn't helping."

" go... Please go." I begged. For some reason looking at her amused me great pain and her voice felt like it was going to make my ears bleed.

" I talked to the princess and she said she would have the guards stop torturing you... Besides... Canterlot is just a few hours away... You'll be at peace soon, I hope."

" I- I can't be at peace... Need... Need to re-remember... Must think..." I said speaking out in madness and not knowing what I was saying. It felt like I didn't have a conscience anymore and that I was just nothing but mindless darkness and despair. No happiness, no hope, and no faith... Just fear, pain, and agony. She let out a sigh and sat down next to me. I was still afraid and hid my dice. She started rubbing the side of my head and I began to calm down a bit... I was pathetic.

I wanted to burst out in rage and reclaim my former glory but I was not able to do that. With my mind gone and darkness and pain surrounding me I couldn't think of what to do. I couldn't hold a thought for more than five seconds and most of the time my mind kept me from thinking rationally at all. She continued to pat me on the head like I was some kind of stray dog... I might as well be.

" I'm sorry you had to go out this way." She said. " I truly am... And if it helps you now... I forgive you..." We sat there and she comforted me as best as she could. But my body was cold and I was shivering. The cell was stained with my blood and I was covered in open wounds and blistering red marks from whips and lashes. I had several broken ribs and they had cut lines through my ears. She kept petting me and soon enough I could feel the boat jerk forward and stop... We were here.

I could tell that we were here because I saw a few tears fall from twilight's face. She didn't look like she was crying but tears were falling from her face. They fell down and landed on my neck and face. I could tell that if she had it her way I'd be free and on my way with whatever I was doing before. I looked at her now with fear and regret. Even though I didn't know much and I couldn't remember anything... I knew what was going to happen.

" time to go scar..." Said a voice outside of the black fog. They soon walked into the cell and made shape. They were two guards., both unicorns. They used their magic to pick me up and drag me between them.

" let's go miss sparkle." They said. " their chess wishes to see you." Twilight just nodded and led into the black fog. The guards started walking and carried me away with them. We went up a few flights of stairs and soon I realized we were on the deck. I couldn't see anything but black but I could tell from the breeze and fresh air we were outside. I could hear birds chirping and singing in the distance.

They carried me away and I watched as the ground changed from the wooden deck to a dirt path. I don't think I remember what dirt feels like. I almost wanted to reach down and touch it but I have more things to worry about now. As they carried me along everything was silent then I could see the ground change to marble and a few structures lightly poke out of the fog. I had to guess we were in some kind of castle now.

We walked around through the castle. We took left and right turns and the guards put me down to tie my hooves together as we'll was my wings. They picked me back up and commanded me to walk as a few other guards walked with us now encircling me. I was tired and worn down so I lagged behind a lot. Every time I did the guards behind me would shove me forward and I would pick up the pace as much as I could until I fell behind again and the process repeated.

As we moved forward I could hear the roaring and cheering of thousands of voices growing slightly louder and louder. Soon enough they sounded very close but muffled at the same time. I could hear a voice talking out amongst them and they claimed down. I couldn't hear what it was saying. It was just a bunch of muffles and noises. After a while the voice stopped and the roaring picked back up again. We moved forward a bit and there was a pain of doors. They swung open and the roaring grew cleared and it was ear shattering now.

The guards punched me along through the roaring noise. I could tell there were thousands and thousands of ponies here cheering and roaring at ,y execution but I couldn't see any of them past the darkness. We kept moving and moving then we came to a stop and only two guards remained the other lined up and as we moved forward there where was a line of guards on both sides of me as we moved up to some kind of platform and we stopped.

And just then something happened. The darkness around me started pushing back and back... Further and further and I could see ponies faces coming out of the darkness. They came out in hundreds at a time as the darkness repelled away like a nightmare. They all looked at me with hatred and started throwing things at me. Soon there was light and the darkness Was gone. I looked out over the sea of ponies and saw that this was my place of death.

In front of me was an ornate and sharp looking guillotine. It was reared up and ready to go. The guards pushed me forward until I was right in front of it. I looked over the crowd and to my horror I recognized every ponies face. They were the faces in the darkness mocking me... Now they're here to watch me die. I could feel my head about to explode from my insanity... I just want it to end... God please make it end.

There was a flash of light and the crowd grew silent as the princess appeared on the platform with me and she had twilight and five other ponies with her. I recognized a few of them but I didn't know how I knew them. They looked at me all with regret and anger... Accept for the purple one whose name has already escaped my head. But I recognized the princess's face... She burned her image into my brain with fear and hatred.

" standing before you is the criminal scar..." She said to the crowd. I just looked over them with no emotion. " scar you stand guilty of various unspeakable crimes against Equestria and her fellow ponies... Your sentence is death by guillotine... Do you have any last words..." She said looking at me now.

" I do..."I said not knowing what I was saying. I looked over the crowd. " killing me now may be what you want... But it does no justice... It won't fix the damage... And the suffering won't end with me... There's never an end." I said. I wasn't saying this. Something was making me say this. " there will always be fear... Horror, death, and misery... It doesn't end with me... You may feel safe sleeping tonight... But it won't be long until I am replaced"

I stopped talking and the guards pushed me down onto my knees. They shoved my head down and rested my neck on the slot of the guillotine. I knelt there scared and confused. I didn't want to say anything but I couldn't help but say that... It's like it was something that I needed to say, I don't even know what it means. The ponies just washed away my final words with roars and cheering.

The drums of the guards started to start beating and the princess walked over to the rope holding up the blade. She looked at me and I just stared out over the whole crowd. Everypony wanted me dead... I wanted to die too. I sat there and the princess waited and kept me sitting there in excruciating ambition. Then her horn glowed and a small beam shot from it and it cut the rope of the guillotine.

At this time the guillotine started falling. It felt like it was falling forever. I looked back over the crowd and a single tear fell down from my eye. The voices in my head began laughing maniacally and they tortured me one last time. The blade fell and as the moment everypony was waiting for... It came down on my neck... And my head rolled. I felt no pain... But I couldn't feel envy thing anymore. Everything stopped and the second I was dead everything went black... There was just darkness everywhere... I was dead... No excuse this time, I'm stone cold dead.

I could feel my sanity start to return to me and I looked around still aware in this pit of endless black. I knew that there would be no heaven for me... No nirvana and no limbo... Just an everlasting place in the circles of hell. I'm sure that the devil even has a special circle just for me. But instead of hell I was greeted with something else... Laughter. There was laughter filling the air and piercing my ears. It was a deep demonic sounding laugh.

" must you continue to amuse me." Said an evil voice. I was afraid now... I was sure this was the devil.

" just take me devil... I know my place is in hell." I said bearing my chest and accepting my fate. The voice just laughed again but louder this time.

" I am no devil..." Said the voice. " i am but the deliverer... And you are not mine to deliver to either side... You must carry on." Said the voice.

" what do you mean... I am dead." I said yelling out now.

" and what a twisted and beautiful death it was... I knew you would be driven into insanity... I foresaw it... Just as I knew this would be the destruction of you and your hope."

" what are you." I asked. A black puff of smoke fumed up in front of me and a tall robed figure with a scythe grew up from the darkness and stood out glowing in the darkness. He only managed to radiate more darkness that stood out from the rest.

" I am death... The deliverer... The harvester of souls and keeper of light and death." He said. His very air seemed to make me shiver in fear and cold and back away.

" why are you tormenting me like this... Just bring me to hell." I said.

" there is no hell for you..." He said. " you who keeps toying with me... You continuously cheat me and in the two times you have died I am staid from your soul... But you do not know." He said.

" what do you mean... Two times... I can't die twice that's impossible." I said.

" poor forgetful fool... You have no need to be confused... You need to remember... You need to achieve peace in your existence... Now remember." He said sparking a cloud of light glowing dust over at me.

It covered my body and lifted me up. It spun me around and started seeping into my soul. I started to remember...I can remember now... Everything... All my life flashed before my eyes, every memory, experience, and skill I've learned over the years was passing through me. It was a pain Like no other. I could feel the overwhelming power inside of me breaking out and ripping my soul into pieces.

The darkness soon started to fade and became light. There was so much power and energy running through my body and tearing its way through my soul. It inflicted a direct pain right to my soul which burned like no other pain before. I started to remember who I was and what I had become. I was in a severe state of confusion and I could feel my insanity start to clamor back to me and seep into my head as I began to feel and sense everything around me. The light soon washed over and I had become one with it... I had reached an eternal peace within myself.

Every emotion every memory shot right into my brain like an arrow to the head. The constant pain and throbbing was killing me. I began putting the pieces together and I had started to remember my life in perfect order and synchronization. Every little detail and every little word ran through my head... Like I was re living my life at an incredible pace. And when I had time to breath and the pain stopped the light subsided back into darkness and I let out a deep breath of shock and awe.

I was whole again...


	16. Chapter 16: All Gods Become One

i didn't know what this was or why it was happening but i had all my memories back... to an extent... all i knew was that i cannot be defeated so easily. i can remember places and the ponies in them. but i can't put the names to them. i can remember what my life was like and what i did. i remember who i was... i am crimson blast... the hero king of equestria and omni-god. i was the most reknown power the world had seen and i know that my journey doesn't end here... or anywhere else... i realize now that i have become an immortal being... my body can be destroyed... but my soul will always carry on and find a new host.

i started remembering as i whirled through a seemingly endless black vortex. i was just once a ball of glowing power and energy but i have now solidified into my original form... i was my old self again. i was simply my soul now... being cast away into a void to find a new host. i knew that i would always carry on and i knew that one day i would make things right... and i'll be damned if today isn't that day.

as i whirled by the darkness a light soon came into view. it shone brightly like a star at first... then it grew. soon it shone like the sun and it was blinding... but i couldn't keep my eyes away from it. it was drawing me in and pulling me closer until it grabbed hold of me and embraced me. i could feel the world around me... i was becoming aware. it was cold... dreadfully cold, and dark now. the light was gone now and nothing but darkness... a natural darkness.

it was silent and foreboding. the cold only seemed to grow worse and i could feel something even colder pressing against my back. it was hard and cold... like stone. i could tell i was laying down now. and soon enough i took in my first breath of air. it was the most relaxing and satisfying breath i've ever taken. i opened my eyes and looked around my first sights in my old body. even though i had my eyes open the darkness didn't subside. i shifted around and kept bumping into walls all around me. i pushed my hooves up and pressed them against the ceiling only inches away.

i pushed on the hard stone ceiling and it started lifting up. it wasn't until now i realized that i was in a tomb. this was my tomb... i died and this is where they buried me. as i started pushing the tombstone off of my encasing light started to leak into the casket. the light was beautiful and inviting. with great force i launched the top of the tomb off of the casing and it flew into the air. it fell back down and hit the ground shattering into hundreds of stone pieces. the shattering stone echoed throughout the burial place.

i sat up and stretched my wings and hooves. i let out a deep yawn which ended up sounding more like a roar of awakening. it also echoed through the burial place. when i finally saw the burial place i was shocked to see that it wasn't just a hole in the ground but it was a huge cave with a shrine. there was a huge lake and a stone bridge connecting the uprise over the cave to the small stone island i was on. on the island was my shrine.

the shrine was composed of my tomb as well as a statue behind me. the statue was of course a statue of me. i stood there in my armor with my wings raised up. the statue glowed magically and lit up the whole cavern. other than that there was nothing but torches and a huge body of water surrounding my shrine... i'm touched they would go this far as to burry me. seeing as they were so kind to me i almost felt like throwing up after recalling what i had put twilight and the others through. i even started dry heaving and i slowly walked out of my stone coffin.

i took another deep breath and looked over myself. i was a huge white coated and silvery black maned pony. my mane flowed in some non existent wind and i glowed with bright somehow golden black and silver armor. i had huge metal plating armor, a majestic flowing cape, a crown of thorns, a halo, and a mystical glowing aura around me. i felt more powerful than i could ever remember feeling.

"hello champion." said a female voice. i looked over to see a white robed and glowing woman floating on the bridge just a few inches above the ground. i automatically recognized her but i couldn't recall her name or who she was.

"i... i know you." i said.

"you do indeed..." she replied. "my name is merithal... do you remember now." she said. the name instantly fired a wave of memories and names into my head and i knew who she was for sure.

"yes... i do." i said.

"you did marvelous job and passed the test." she said.

"was this another test..." i said getting a bit annoyed recalling the last time they tested me.

"it was not intentional..." she said. "it was all deaths doing... but seeing as you're love and faith were able to break through a shell of pure evil such as scars shows that you are more than ready."

"ready for what?" i asked.

"in due time... but first." she said reaching back behind her. she pulled her hand back and held a floating white gem in her hands. i knew it was the blinding shard. before i could ask the shard broke into a burst of dust and light and it flew towards me and wrapped me in its embrace. it lifted me into the air and started seeping into my soul.

the whole cavern shone brightly and seemed to be filled with almost solid light. there was a deep humming and i could feel an unreal power emerging from within me and breaking through and covering my body. the light and the power kept seeping into my body for what felt like hours but must have only been a minute. by the time it was done i fell to the ground and landed on my feet. the entire room seemed to light up around me. all around me the ground was cracked and broken and light shone through the cracks. i feel like i had enough energy to last a lifetime and i had grown another few inches.

i was beginning to scare myself with the power i hold now. there was no telling what kind of damage i could do should i ever let it go rampant. before i spoke i got a bad headache and i could hear voices in my head and see ponies running around and laughing at me. merithal looked at me with confusion and then she sighed and looked at the ground. i have a feeling she was keeping something from me. soon the ponies and the voices and the darkness faded and i was alright. my head cleared up and she looked over to me.

"i was afraid this would happen." she said.

"what... what's wrong with me." i asked.

"you've become mentally unstable." she said. "while you were in scars body you had to constantly fight for control of his body... this put too much strain on you and you've suffered the consequences."

"you're telling me i'm insane." i said pacing around in fear and worry.

"i'm afraid so... though it shouldn't be as traumatic as when you were in scars body... but it will be a problem." she said.

"why?" i asked.

"why what..." she said.

"why me?" i asked. "why am i the one who has to do this... that seems to be the only question that nopony can answer... why did this have to happen... was it all planned out, was i manipulated or is all of this predestined by a greater power... tell me." i said not willing to keep this answer in hiding anymore.

"i cannot lie to you... but believe me when i don't know either... nothing is predestined... you're choices and the choices of those around you have brought you to this." she said "everything is open to change... not even the past is written in stone... but i must tell you that there is a fate that you have brought upon yourself that you cannot escape."

"what... what is it." i asked. she didn't answer. instead there was a bright flash of light. i expected her to be gone but she wasn't instead more people walked out beside her. they were all of different colors and themes. one was red with fiery robes. another was blue with water like hair. all of them were different elements. fire, water, earth, air, lightning, light, darkness, nature, life, ice, chaos... all of them humanoid and they encircled me. i looked around and i was afraid. i didn't know what was happening. they just encircled me and looked down at me. i looked around at them and they just looked back at me.

"are you ready?" asked the one that i figured represented lightning. he looked like thor, god of thunder... that would make sense.

"ready for what." i asked.

"your coronation." said a woman to my right. she was floating and in pink heart like gear. i guessed she was the goddess of life. even death had reared his ugly head at the opposite end. he looked at me and i couldn't see any emotion past his hood.

"what coronation... what is happening." i demanded.

"you have been chosen..." said merithal. "you are the only being with a soul powerful enough to bind two opposite energies that in life can never be one... but you have done this... and with the gesture of higher powers we now coronate you as crimson... god of balance." she said. and they all started to light up.

what no...ballance... this can't be happening. i must still be asleep or dreaming or something. there's no way this can go any deeper than being a multi god... no way. i was starting to sweat not knowing what this meant. i was so confused and this was happening so suddenly i didn't know what to think. i couldn't come to grip with this. i could feel something clawing at the inside of my head now and it was trying to force me to shout out in protest.

the gods along side me and surrounding me continued to glow and they fired multi colored beams up into the air and glowed brighter and brighter. i looked around frantically trying to protest but i couldn't. i felt like i wanted to shout out and stop this... but i soon accepted my fate. if i was destined to become a greater being so be it... there's nothing i can do to stop this now. i let out a deep sigh and looked deeply into the light. and they fired.

beams of every color fired all at once and hit me dead on. i could feel... untold energy inside of me. it was the kind of stuff you could only dream about. there were no words to describe the power running through me... and there were also no words to describe the unimaginable pain. even the devil himself would fear this kind of pain. the insanity in my mind was soon drained out and replaced with pain. i could feel my bones breaking and fixing themselves within seconds and it continued over and over all across my body. my physical being was being destroyed and replaced with raw power.

i yelled out in pain as the light around me grew brighter and brighter and destroyed everything it touched. there was a horrible trembling and i could feel all the knowledge of the world and all other worlds filling my head. i knew everything. i could do anything... the world was mine to do with what i wish. i had power over life and death itself... all the elements i could make day and night and night would be as day. manipulation over space and time. i could see everything. in the past present and future. there was no end to my grasp.

the pain continued and i let out a deep earth shattering roar that seemed to bend the space and elements around me and within earshot. i clasped at my brain as it continued to fill with information and i rose up into the air. i felt a sharp pain within my skull that felt like somepony was continuously stabbing my head with a shank over and over again and i had to sit there and fell every second of it.

pain continued to wash over my body until it all stopped. there was no more pain, no more knowledge to recall, only more and more power destroying my physical being and hardening into a new more stable and powerful being. it was unimaginable. i could see all the answers... all the solutions... i knew why it was me. i knew that my soul was always the soul to become a greater power. there was no denying that what i would become was a being far more powerful than anything i could imagine.

i closed my eyes and i could feel all of the world... i could feel every world within the universe. the burning of fire, flowing of water, the faint glow of life and even the beauty of death was shown to me. the light grew brighter and brighter until it fired off as a huge beam that picked me up and rose me high into the air. the beam fired across the universe and gave light to new hope. i was already well above the ground of canterlot now. i could hear the gods chanting.

"ill melosum cortas nova ill nocturn un gra vas a kaill..." they chanted i knew what i meant. they said 'let the elements give way to the new god of balance'

"kara akk nirnu yuun hakal no vas u guun." they said. 'let he who is worth take hold.'

"nos vas univa te lota mirna..."... 'and shape the universe to his will.'

for a second i actually felt happy. like i knew what to do. i was presented before the universe as a shining new idol and a god amongst men and ponies alike. but that was not what i thought. soon the light faded into darkness and i felt myself falling. then... there was a blast... like something had just shattered. i thought for a second and i knew what happened. i was shot backwards in time and with my incredible power and instant time warp i literally broke the vail of magic. i felt like i was falling forever then i felt something hard hit the bottoms of my hooves and suddenly the darkness was gone and the world revealed itself to me. i looked around and i felt like i could see forever.

the gods still circled me and they were done glowing and they were actually less powerful looking than before. they all looked at me and smiled. i could even tell that death was smiling on the inside. the gods who were once my height before any of this began were now at least a few feet shorter than me. my body was covered in intricate symbols that glowed pure light... no color, just pure light. not like the element of light which glows a golden yellow... pure white light. my body radiated power and energy. i had on whining white armor and a hood. i also had a mask on. it was a full metal mask that glowed white and shone brightly... like the mask i wore when i was scar.

i had great majestic wings and one thing i noticed too was i had a horn now... i was an alicorn like celestia and luna. it swirled with glowing symbols and they met at the top. i already knew what i was capable of and i knew how i could use my abilities. my head was working too fast to catch up to what just happened and i was speechless. i looked back over the circle of gods and they all looked up to me. then mirella stepped forward.

"congratulations high king crimson... god of balance and understanding." she said bowing... the rest bowed too. i didn't know how i felt about this. i was immediately confused which is to say a lot since i knew everything.

"what do i do know?" i asked... that was the one thing confusing me... even with my knowledge and abilities i still didn't know if there could be anything for me to do after this... i feel like i have reached the end... like i can't keep going from here... i can just sit back and watch the world turn for all of eternity.

"now you go..." she said. the other gods started fading away until it was just me and her. "go now and be the god you were meant to be... there is none at you're level... you are the ultimate." she said. with that she faded. soon i was left all by myself in this cave. all my confusion and emotions flew at me and hit me at the same time causing me to fall back and sit down. i let out a deep sigh that seemed to freeze the air in front of me. i can't keep doing this... there can't possibly be any more surprises after this... it's not possible.

i thought for a moment and i decided that i need to carry on. nopony knows about this yet... and it might be better if they never do. with this ultimate power i can take any shape or form... so i did. i glowed a bright white and when i was done glowing i was in my original shape again before the transformation... or whatever you would call it. this is one hell of a mess i'm in now... the other times i was caught in a situation like this trail in comparison to this... hell they can't even compete... this literally blows them all out of existence. i always saw myself as a powerful being but not a god, but now i've literally become a god.

i just sat there in the cold cave contemplating what to do. just like all the other times i didn't know what i should do now. even with all the answers there aren't any answers for what i want to do... that's a question with no set answer. but i guess just like every other time i end up dusting myself off and carrying on... that's what i always do... adapt and carry on. it's happened, it's done... over, there's nothing i can do about this except carry on. i at least hope i can hide this for as long as i need to.

i let out a deep sigh and with it all my doubts and worries. i took in a deep breath and filled myself with confidence and joy. i was happy to be alive, happy i can be with my family and the ones i love... and damn happy that i can make everything right this time. with this new found joy and confidence came an are whole hearted bravery and the will to make everything right. i can fix things now. no longer do i have to be a symbol of pain and hardship. now that the tests are over and i have reached the end i get to relax now with my reward... and boy was it one hell of a fucking reward.

i spread a determined smile across my face and started slowly walking across the large bridge over the lake and up to the staircase highrise. i walked up the stairs and kept smiling. i kept thinking about all the things that i can do now. i can help so many ponies and put an end to this chaos. i can finally bring peace to equestria and the rest of the universe. i kept walking and soon i reached the top of the stairs and looked down the straight hallway leading into darkness.

in a flicker of light i made the entire hallway light up and shine without a source of light. i started walking and made my way through. it slanted upward a bit and i could see the end from here. it was a beautifully sealed door to my tomb. i kept walking forward and i could see that it displayed my various accomplishments and achievements. it made me smile even brighter than before and i was glowing brightly now with my pure white glow. i was inching closer and closer until i was right in front of it staring at the symbols from the inside.

i looked forward and all the symbols on my body started glowing pure white as well as my eyes. they shone brightly and i seemed to stare through the stone seal. i could see everything behind it and i saw that it wasn't part of the canterlot hero's garden... but it was in the canterlot throne room. it was built into the throne of princess celestia and i could see all of that into what was happening. it was the time of my last death. scars execution. i could tell because now the princess was talking to the crowd addressing issues and promising a safer equestria.

i decided to make a big entrance. i stared at the seal and in a shock wave of power the seal cracked and light shone through the cracks. the cracks didn't stop at the seal but continued throughout all of canterlot and there was a deep rumbling. this obviously caught everyponies attention as they paid attention to the cracks.. even the princess seemed puzzled. i hit the tomb seal with more force and there was another shock wave. soon i broke the seal into pieces and flooded the castle with light. everypony looked over into the blinding light.

i walked out of the seal and walked over to where all the ponies were gathered. i stayed hidden inside of the light and the ponies just stared into it. the princess herself seemed to be puzzled the most. my friends looked in and i saw that some of the others had joined the princess on top of the platform. including the faintly familiar leader of the crimson order. i spread my wings out wide and got ready to leave the light.

i took one step and my front hoof emerged from the light and became visible. i took another step and some of my front body had become barely visible in the light. i took a few more steps until i was fully in sight. i looked at all the ponies and the princess with glowing armor and my mask. they all stared in shock, disbelief, awe, and i could feel a few faint signs of terror and fear. i walked more from the light and stood present before all of equestria as a born again crimson. i was back and far more powerful than even imaginable.

i stopped walking when i was at the base of the platform and still rather far from celestia and the others. i let the light behind me fade away and the cracks on the ground faded as well. i stood there as a shining beacon of hope and other emotions that ponies might feel towards me. this was all i could think to do to come back to life... its not like i can just open up the vault whenever and just kinda walk out like 'hey... sup... did i miss anything.'. coming back to life is a big deal even after i've been dead and buried for half a year.

"oh my god..." said celestia staring at me... interesting choice of words. the rest were silent... i was silent too. i didn't know what to say, like i said before i can't just walk out from this like 'oh... hey guys... sup.'... then i'd seem like a douchebag. so i just stood there and i watched as a few tears started falling from my friends faces. they were tears of joy and happiness... happiness like i've never seen before.

before anything i watched as the princess started walking over to me. she slowly stepped forward hoof by hoof until she stood up right in front of me and looked up to me. i was significantly taller than her now. she looked up at me and smiled... that's all she did was smile. there was no need for words or celebration or even praise... a smile was enough. i just reached up and pulled my mask off. it broke apart into dust as it left my face and i revealed my own smile.

she leaned over and gave me a hug. she rested her neck on my shoulder smiling and i did the same. it wasn't long after that i was tackled by all of my friends including thunder rush. even though i would have been able to keep standing despite their efforts i fell back anyway to add to the moment. they clasped onto me and held me tightly in their loving embrace. they were crying in happiness. thunder rush got up and looked down at me with a smile. it was the kind of smile like he was happy but upset that it took me so long to come back... i gave him the same smile.

i wrapped my hooves around my friends and held them. the once silent crowd slowly grew into an uproar of cheering ponies and adoring fans. the head of the crimson order just stood there in shock and couldn't believe his eyes... i was like a god to him... well, so to speak. technically i'm a god to everypony now... but like i said, they don't need to know that right now. in fact i plan on keeping that a secret for as long as i can.

"i knew i would see you all again." i said sitting up and holding them all tight. i was so big now i could almost hold them all up with my wings which were bigger than a regular pegasus's wings. i smiled and hugged them all as tight as i could but without crushing them to death. "i'm so sorry..." i said. "i never meant to hurt any of you."

"it wasn't you're fault." said the princess walking over and sitting down beside me and the others who were crowded around me smiling and holding on to me. "you fixed it... you selflessly gave you're life for the salvation of our souls... you died for us." she said. "that makes you a worthier hero than any of us."

"but i wasn't dead." i said looking down with guilt knowing i would now have to admit that i was the one pony this world hated the most. at least i thought i did but i tried to hid it and just came up with a lie that i knew i would have to explain later. but i wanted to keep a happy mood amongst the group. "i had burn in the fires of hell for a period of time for the sake of you're souls." i said. "i had plenty of souls... but not enough." i said.

"oh my... are you alright... i'm sorry that happened." said dash holding me tight. i smiled at her and hugged her back.

"it was worth it knowing i wouldn't have to live an immoral life knowing i had killed my best friends and the princess... that's a punishment unlike any hell could bear." i said.

"you know what this calls for right?" said pinkie pie jumping up and spreading a huge smile ear to ear across her face. i knew where this was going. "this calls for a party..." she said excitedly throwing confetti into the air out of nowhere. even though i had all the answers pinkie pie was still a mystery. and even though she completely broke the mood i couldn't help but start laughing.

i started laughing softly then it grew louder and more frantic. i thought it was hilarious. and soon enough everypony else began laughing too, even the princess. we sat there and laughed at pinkies always upright behavior. she always managed to lift everyponies spirits. we all laughed together and it was probably the nicest feeling i've ever felt in a long time... i felt like everything was going to be alright, and i'm sure it is. this was like the perfect happy ending.

****...too bad it's not the end.


	17. Chapter 17: Home Finally Home

i'm back... that's all there is to celebrate about. equestrias most beloved hero is back and stronger than ever. and apparently i'm the god of balance right now... so yeah, i've got that going for me right now. i haven't told anypony this yet for fear of their reaction... i might never tell anypony. i just plan on using my powers in a subtle way and help ponies out with my powers. i resolved to fix any problem big or small... after all the evil i've witnessed with scar i only wish to do good now... and i want everypony to be happy.

for a little bit i could tell my life was returning to normal... or at least as normal as my condition allows it to be. but i also knew that this wasn't going to last forever... there will always be problems in the future and i'm sure that my new powers will help out a great deal with those problems so that there are fewer consequences. but for now i'm at a party with my friends not only celebrating the death of scar but the return of me. technically i'm celebrating my own death along with being reborn... but i haven't told anypony i was scar yet... and i don't plan to, but i'm sure it'll come up at some point... all my secrets find a way of getting out.

i also came to the horrible conclusion that immortality might not be as cracked up as i thought it would be. i knew that there would be a point where me and dash would be sitting on our front porch enjoying the sunset, except dash will be 80 years old and be senile. and i'll be as young and full of energy as i am today. and that will go on and soon i'll watch my children grow old and die, along with their kids and on and on... and my friends too. this was an unsettling thought for me. but i tried to enjoy it as much as i could and i would keep my friends living as long as i could... but i can't save their souls when its their time.

for now i smiled and laughed as i enjoyed the party going on with my friends. all my friends were there, even mystee and her family were there and we caught up and it was a flurry of emotions. that what it was like meeting old friends. it started out as a flurry of happy emotions that subsided into just pure fun and joy as we enjoyed ourselves at the party. i got smiles and praises from all kinds of ponies and me and my friends including the princess all kept together and shared stories. i was mostly the one telling the stories about what it was like being dead... and that kind of stuff. they told me stories about their horrible experiences with scar even though i knew, i just acted like i didn't.

"we really missed you crimson..." said twilight.

"i missed you guys too." i said. "i'm just glad to be out of that hell... literally." they all laughed softly and i just chuckled a bit at my own clever joke.

"so crimson... you actually came back with good timing." said the princess. "not only did you make you're arrival at scars execution... but tomorrow is hearths warming eve."

"that can't be..." i said. "it's not looking like winter at all."

"yeah it has been strangely warm this winter." said dash. "the ponies at cloudsdale can't transport snowflakes without them melting... all we've had is rain here and there..."

we continued to discuss the weather and soon moved onto different subjects like what the others did while i was gone that didn't have to do with scar. they informed me that equestria has become the center of adventure and discovery. so now things have much more interesting, and are definitely going to change things for ever. i think it's about time something like this happened to equestria. i know ponies around here are very friendly and kind and there aren't too many problems, all the time. i can still fire off a few, this is the kind of jolt the world needs.

soon enough the party had started to die down and it was just a few of us left. me the princess, my friends, and even the head of the crimson order stayed. but her remained somewhat distant just standing off in the distance admiring me. i could help but noticed he kept staring. pretty much all the nameless ponies had left and it was just us now. we carried on our conversation for the rest of the night.

"crimson... can you stay here." said the princess. "i want twilight and the others to come with me for a second." and by others she meant the elements of harmony.

"of course." i said. she smiled and the seven of them got up and they followed the princess. dash gave me a big kiss before flying off to join them and they disappeared behind the door. soon it was just me and my other friends... thunder rush was there, mystee was here with jericco, the other half of her family wasn't here though. even black hoof was here too.

"it's great to have you back crimson." said black hoof.

"things just weren't the same without you." said mystee.

"next time you die make sure to tell us when you're coming back." said thunder punching me playfully in the arm. i just laughed a hearty laugh.

"i'll make sure to do that... and it's really great to be back..." i said.

"uhm... mr... mr. crimson blast." said a voice behind me. i looked back in confusion and saw the leader of the crimson order standing behind me with his head lowered as if he would be destroyed if he gazed into my eyes. "it's an honor to meet you face to face.". i just looked at him and chuckled a bit. this guy needs to chill out and not be so uptight around me... i'm not that kind of pony on the outside... though my new title easily demands it... but they don't know this yet.

"well i wouldn't call it face to face if you won't look up." i said. he seemed taken back by this. "i'm not going to smite you if you look at me... you can look up." i said. he looked up at me and i met his eyes and smiled. "see... now we can meet face to face..." i said. "i've heard much about you're order."

"it is an honor to fight in you're name." he said bowing a bit again but pulling his head up. "and i hope you don't mind if you keep fighting in your name."

"i don't mind." i said. he smiled and i just gazed back at him with my own smile. "but i have to ask... why must you fight in my name?" i asked. "why do you need a cause to fight for what's right... shouldn't you do that anyway."

"yes... you're right i'm sorry." he said.

"now why are you sorry... you haven't done anything wrong." i said. "i'm not going to undermine you're cause nor will i support it on my own time... i'm going to let you do whatever it is you would wish to do... just know that i'm flattered you would fight in my memory."

"yes... thank you." he said leaning his head down and walking away. he was a bit of a awkward pony. but i guess that can be expected when you meet you're personal hero. the guy was pretty funny and i didn't hold anything against him even though i had encountered many of his followers along my journeys as scar... but i'll just keep that in the past.

before i got back to my friends the room was suddenly lit up in a bright light. the bright flash didn't catch me off guard in the slightest but the same can't be said for the others. i looked over and there was a small spark which burst into a small nova blast of flames. the flames subsided to reveal an alicorn. i knew who it was... the fiery hair was enough of a dead give away. it was nightflame. upon seeing him i smiled and he looked around and scoured the room.

"where is that tricky bastard." he said. it didn't take him long to set his sights on me and smile. in a burst of fire he teleported over to me and gave me a hug. i just smiled and hugged back. he let go and sat down with the rest of us. "sorry i'm late for the party... took me a few tries to get here."

"it's good to see you nightflame... how's it been for you." i asked.

"good." he said. "it's better seeing you crimson..." he said. "i'm sure you've heard this from literally everypony but, i missed you... had me scared for a while there..." he said. he started to laugh a bit and try and talk through his laughter. "you... you should have seen my face when i heard you were alive... oh god i wish i could have seen my face." he was laughing his ass off and i let out a soft laugh too.

"been up to any trouble lately?" i asked.

"no... i've been all around... in fact i'll be in canterlot staying with celestia for a while so we can get together every now and then." he said.

"sounds like fun..." i said. "but i think i'm going to take it easy for a while." i replied. "after half a year in hell i think i could sleep for a week." the others laughed and i chuckled a bit with them. before i could make another comment or remark there was a small puff of green smoke next to derek and a little scroll fell to the floor. we all looked at it in confusion as derek picked it up. he read over it and smiled.

"who's it from?" asked mystee.

"it's from red wing... he said he can't make the party because he's caught up with something but he sends his regards... and also he apologies again for throwing that knife into you're neck." said thunder rush. i just laughed a bit.

"next time you see him just tell him not to do it again..." i said.

"i'll make a note." said derek. we laughed a bit and continued our conversations and had more fun and laughs. i did notice it was taking celestia and the others a while to talk or whatever it is they were doing. i wonder what they could possibly be doing.

To my surprise the next thing I saw was celestia and the other six walking back into the room smiling. I looked back at them smiling. They walked over and they all sat down around us. I could tell they were up to something and I think I knew what it was. And by the floating box behind celestia which she was trying to hide I had to guess they had something for me. Even though I knew I acted normal anyway.

" crimson we have a surprise for you." Said twilight smiling. The others spread out and dash walked over and sat down with me again. It felt a bit awkward being at least two feet bigger than her but I could fix that later. Right now I just want to be with my friends.

" how can you possibly have a present for me?" I asked. " later today you thought I was dead." The others laughed a bit.

" we know... I was planning on awarding this to you after the wedding... I did plan for it to go... Nonviolently... If I should say"said celestia. She levitated the box from out behind her and it flew over to me. I managed to grab it with a white magical aura which emanated from nowhere and held it up to my head. It was a long golden box that was well decorated with sun designs and other patterns. It was also jewel encrusted and very ornate.

I opened it up to reveal a sword. It was the most golden and beautiful sword I've ever seen. It had a golden hilt with a bright shining blade... Literally the blade gave of pure white light. The hilt was decorative and ornate. It was golden and jewel encrusted. It was spiked like a sun and the blade was long and sharp. I looked at it and smiled brightly. It was a beautiful sword and probably one of a kind.

" this is a beautiful sword..." I said.

" it was my fathers..." Said celestia... Her fathers. Everypony in the room seemed a bit disgruntled at the statement but hid it pretty well.

" your father?" I said.

" yes..." She replied. " me and my sister never knew him... I can't remember what he looks like anymore...after Luna was born he just seemed to stop existing. And when we where old enough our mother soon seemed to stop existing too... We were alone."

" that sounds rough... I don't think I can really relate." I said

" don't worry about it..." Said celestia. " me and my sister at both at peace with their passing." I just smiled lightly and she did too. I closed the case to the box and set it down at my side. We all continued with our little conversations and catching up. It wasn't too long that princess Luna had appeared and she was happy to see me too.

We all sat together and talked about different things. My friends helped me catch up on what was new and what their lives have been like since I was gone. I had known to an extent but it was good to know what was happening. After a while it had started to get late and twilight decided that we should all go home. I looked at dash and smiled.

" ready to go home." I asked. She smiled and gave me a little kiss on the nose which made me chuckle a bit. I looked at the others. " I can teleport us all home from here." I said. " Is that alright." I asked looking at the others.

" that would be nice." Said twilight. The others soon agreed.

" just warp me to the bar we usually go to." Said thunder rush. I first recognized the bar to be the one I went to when I was scar and I knew the place. I can already remember where the others live and I concentrated on those places. You would think it would be hard to concentrate on eight places at once but I found it all too easy. And in a flash and a short boom we were gone from the castle in canterlot.

There was another flash and me and dash both teleported to the front of our house. There were a few black clouds and lightning struck down where we teleported to. In another flash we became solid and soon enough we were at the house. I looked at the house and smiled at the old sight. It was a really nice sight to see after such a long time. I looked at dash who seemed a bit disoriented. She was a little dizzy but i gave her a big kiss on the top of her head and it set her straight. She smiled and looked at me and we both looked at out house.

" you would think with my title and wealth we would be living in a huge castle like celestia." I said. Dash giggled a little and smiled.

" that would make sense... But what on earth would we do with a huge castle... I can't even imagine what celestia does all day in the empty castle..." Said dash.

" I can't argue with that... A big castle would be too lonely looking... I'm just glad I have a nice big house to share with my family."I said. Dash looked over to me and I looked at her. She smiled and went over to kiss me. She couldn't reach up to me so I had to lean down and give her a kiss back.

" you need to stop growing..." She said." You'll get too big for the house... Again" she was right... I was stiller try big... I guess now would be a good time to fix that.

" yeah... Hold on." I said. I concentrated for a second and I started to grow smaller and smaller until I was just half a foot above her height... Much better. Everything was still proportional...I was just smaller now. She looked at me with awe and then smiled. "There... How's that?" I asked. She leaned over and she could reach up and kiss me now.

" much better." She said smiling. I laughed a bit and we walked over to the house we walked over and I got to the door. As I reached over and opened the door I couldn't help but wounded how excited my kids would be. I'm sure dawn isn't really a baby anymore and Is probably just a young filly at this point. And scoots will definitely be excited about seeing me. I turned the knob and pulled open the door letting dash inside first.

" kids I'm home... I've got a surprise." She said... She made me smile. I could hear the slight sound of little hoofsteps as a small filly with a mane similar to the sunset ran out into the hall. It was my little baby Dawn and she was adorable. She wasn't in diapers anymore and she seemed to be walking around normally. She should be four years old now if I'm not mistaken. She had an excited and ecstatic look on her face.

And quickly behind her ran an orange filly with purple hair. It was scootaloo my other daughter. Even though she is adopted I don't like to see it that way. She had the same ecstatic look on her face too. They both ran out into the hallway to see me and dash standing there. They stopped and looked confused for a second. But then I could see scootaloo smile and well up with tears.

"DADDY!" She shouted out as she quickly sprinted over to me. I let out a playful laugh and leaned down to pick up my daughter. I sat down as dash closed the door and held my daughter who clung to me as tight as she could. She was crying with tears of joy and they where staining my coat. I just smiled and hugged her.

"Daddy..." Said little dawn running over and crawling up me. She was so adorable and innocent. I laughed again and picked her up. She didn't have tears in her eyes like scootaloo but she hugged me and smiled nonetheless. She was too young and innocent to understand what happened. But scoots was old enough to know what went on... She knew I had died... Technically.

" I thought you were gone forever." Said scootaloo.

" I love you and your sister too much to leave you alone forever." I said. She cried a bit more and hugged me. I just smiled and held her tight for as long as I needed to. It wasn't long though until dawn had fallen asleep in my arms and scootaloo as well had cried herself to sleep. It was late after all and dashed ably woke them up... But seeing as how they ran into the hall with a lot of energy suggested that they were staying up late.

I smiled and stood up holding them in my wings. I carried them off to their bedrooms. I went into scootaloo's room and set her down in her bed and pulled the covers over her. Dash watched with a smile on her face. I have her a kiss on the forehead and left the room. I did the same with dawn.

She no longer needed to sleep in a crib and had a room just like scootaloo's except the walls were painted like the sunset and the bedding was a bit more subtle when it came to color. Scootaloo's room was a very girls room with stuffed animals dolls and pink everywhere. I didn't mind though... She was my daughter and I didn't care how she expressed herself. I laid dawn in her bed and gave her a kiss too. I pulled the covers over her and flicked the lights off.

I walked out of the room to see dash smiling and giving me a sexy look. I walked over to her and nuzzled up to her. She giggled and we both walked up to our room. The bed was still pretty big from the last time I slept in it. We both crawled into bed and dash snuggled up to me. I looked at her and she smiled.

" I love you..." I said.

" I know... I'm glad that you're back... I never gave up hope that you would come back." Said dash.

" I promise that things are going to be different now... I'll make sure everything is alright..." I said.

" I know you promise that... And you always keep your word... You said we would meet again and you were right."

"i don't know how you put up with me." i said chuckling. she just laughed and rubbed her snout against mine and we shared a smile

"it isn't easy..." she said. "i'm just glad dawn is old enough to finally function on her own and scootaloo watches her with her friends... it really lets a load off my back."

"well i'm here to help... just ask." i said.

"could you try you're best not to leave for long periods of time." she said playfully and batting her eyelashes. i just laughed and she smiled.

"i'll do my best..." i said. "in fact next time i go on a super important quest i'll take you and the kids."dash just laughed and nudged me on the shoulder.

"like hell i'll let you drag my kids into one of you're crazy adventures." she said.

"oh so they're you're kids." now i said pulling her closer and nuzzling my head in her mane making her laugh.

"yes they're my kids..." said dash. "you left for two years and then died." she said. i burst out laughing.

"hey... the two years wasn't my fault... and i have a good reason for dying." i said. she just laughed and i chuckled a bit too. we just laid there and i held her close as we shared a smile.

"so what are you going to do now?" asked dash... that was a good question that not even i could answer.

"i don't know... i guess tomorrow is hearth's warming eve somehow... i guess we're going to celebrate that..."

"yeah... twilight said she was going to have a party at her house... she had that planned in advanced but then she got kidnapped by scar... so i'm not sure if she's keeping those plans."

"we can stop by tomorrow"i think its time to get some sleep now." i said. she just hummed in agreement. i smiled and rested my head on the pillow and hugged dash. i closed my eyes as well and slowly drifted off. i slowly slipped away into the darkness of sleep and soon i was in my own world of dreams and fantasies... though when you living a life like mine there is a very thin line between fantasy and possibility. there isn't much difference between what's impossible and what's not for me.

then again, nothing's impossible...

-Authors Note: wazzup bitches... no seriously whats up guys... been a bit of a while and it was only after a storm that some asshole decided to park his car around a utility pole... so we where without power until an hour before i posted this. hope you guys didnt miss me and also to answer the question of a concerned commentor... no i'm not dead...yet. here are the new chapters... since the break i decided to give you two... count 'em, two... chapters... hope you guys liked them and had fun with the blizzard that some of you didnt have to put up with (you lucky bastards)... anyway keep reading and stay shady.-End of Note-


	18. Chapter 18: A Fresh New Hell

i slowly came back to reality and slowly opened my eyes to the view of my room. it was just a few minutes past 8 and the room was still peacefully dark. there was a faint silverish light cutting through a space in the curtains and it sliced the room in half. i let out a big yawn as i picked up my head and tried to come to my senses... i haven't had such a wonderful rest in a long time. i looked down to see dash still smiling in her sleep with her head pressed up against my chest. she was so warm and soft... i looked at her and she instantly made me feel like smiling, so i did.

i smiled and ran my hoof across her hair and laid my head back down. i laid there holding her like she was a baby and running my hoof across the top of her head. knowing that i'm back home with my friends and family in my old body filled me with an unimaginable sense of glee. and knowing what i had become and knowing that i had the power, ability, and knowledge to fix any kind of problem made me even happier. though it was still pretty hard to believe i was some kind of god now i don't care... i've seen a lot of crazy shit. i own the phrase 'i've seen some shit'.

dash let out a cute little yawn and stretched out. she pulled pushed her head up my chest towards my neck and she pushed her hair into my face, it tickled a bit but i didn't mind. she pressed her hooves now against my chest and straightened out her back hooves and wings. she relaxed her muscle and she laid there with her mane sticking in my face. i just smiled and pulled my head away. her eyes started to open a little bit and she let out another yawn.

"hey there sleepy..." i said. "have a good night?" i asked jokingly.

"the best." she said in a serious but still somewhat jokingly tone. "i met this guy called crimson last night..." she said jokingly now playing a little game with me... i decided to go with it.

"what was he like..." i asked.

"he was strong, brave, powerful... a total hunk, had huge rippling muscles... and he was one of the kindest and most generous ponies i've ever seen in my life." said dash smiling playfully and looking up at me. i leaned over and pressed my nose against hers and she laughed.

"well i met this one mare... rainbow dash was her name." i said smiling. she started to giggle.

"and how was she?" dash asked playfully.

"she was beautiful, tenacious, kind, loving, she had the most amazing rainbow mane and tail... she was super sexy, and probably one of the most loving and caring ponies i've seen in my life as well." i said. she laughed and i did too.

"those two sound like the perfect couple." she said. i laughed and she did too. that little game was enough to wake us both up and start the day off well.

"i think today calls for a special kind of breakfast." i said.

"and you have something in mind." said dash.

"no... but today just seems like the kind of day you should have a special breakfast on." i said, she just started laughing.

"and why's that...?" she asked smiling at me as we still laid in the bed.

"well duh... its only the most special and important occasion ever... hearths warming eve." i said, she burst out laughing and i chuckled a bit.

"anything else." she asked through her laughter.

"not that i can think of." her laughter died down to a continuous giggle.

"i think i missed you're sense of sarcastic humor the most." she said nibbling on my ear playfully. i just smiled and laid there and embraced her.

"it is one of my defining traits." i said. "that and i'm some kind of omni-god... or whatever." even though i knew that i had become much more... they don't need to be worried with that kind of pressure and i certainly know that i don't need that kind of attention.

"thats all huh?" asked dash.

"yep... i figure that's all i've got going for me." i said. she smiled and i did too. she pulled away from playing with my ear and hugged me. i hugged her back and i laughed a bit and she did too.

"you know... you've been in that tomb for half a year." said dash.

"and?" i asked as if this was going somewhere.

"well... frankly... you smell horrible." she said. she immediately pushed herself away from me. "i can't believe i hadn't noticed that before..." i lifted my arm up and smelt myself. i literally smelt like i had been in a stone tomb for half a year... it's probably good that i don't smell like a corpse.

"oh god." i said cringing and pushing my face away. dash laughed. i started pretending like i would throw up and she just laughed some more. "well it could be worse... at least i don't smell like i've been ROTTING for half a year... so that's good." i said.

"if you were rotting for half i year i don't think there would be much fo you left to stink anyway." said dash.

"you're right." i replied. "i'd be just a skeleton pony... wait, that would be so cool." i said.

"i don't think i can kiss a skeleton." said dash.

"i wonder if i can turn myself into one?" i said looking at myself becoming fascinated with the loads of fun that i realized i could have with reality bending power and control of the elements. i had everything. i could start fires, freeze oceans, summon large storms... and, and, and reverse death itself... alright maybe too much.

i did know how my powers work and all of those were correct accept the death thing. even though i'm imbued with the elements of life and death that doesn't mean i can kill and revive anything. life just lets me heal fatal wounds and incurable illnesses, with death i can cause those evil things and i also have the touch of life and death. touch of life means everything i touch flourishes and grows healthy. or with the touch of death everything i touch withers and dies. my head was filling up with possibilities... ones that don't involve killing everything i touch though.

"why would you want to turn yourself into a skeleton pony." asked dash.

"because it would be awesome." i said.

"why don't you save that for another day... today is about life, happiness, and the bonds of friendship... which is especially important since you came back to life..." she said. "don't do anything stupid or irresponsible."

"hey." i said in a fake serious voice. " i'm extraordinary... we all know that." i said making an idol of myself. dash just giggled as we both sat in our bed together.

"sorry..." she said. "let me rephrase... don't do anything extraordinarily stupid or irresponsible." she said. i burst out laughing at her clever turn around. she smiled and just crawled over. i fell back onto the bed laughing and she sat down next to me. she smiled and gave me a kiss as my laughter began to fade.

"i'll try to be my regular stupid today." i said looking at her. she smiled and i gave her a kiss.

"alright..." she said. "now go shower... a few funny jokes aren't going to wash away half a year of smell." she said. i just smiled and got up and off the bed. she just smiled at me and i walked over into to bathroom. i walked across to the shower and stepped in. my mane was no longer its shimmering and sparkling white self like at the party but was just long and regular hair now... strange part too was that it was black. my symbols continued to glow pure white and shimmer.

i started the shower and stood in the hot water for a minute or two and let it relax my muscles. i let out a deep sigh since it had been so long since i've taken a good shower. i washed my fur and my hair well and my hair seemed to start glowing and began flowing next to me again and shone a bright sparkling wight. i turned off the water and shook myself off in the shower like a wet dog... though i was still soaked. i stepped out of the shower to see that i had no towel.

not a problem because a solution instantly popped into my head. i quickly heated up my body temperature to incredible heat and all the water on me instantly evaporated off me and filled the bathroom with a loud hiss as well as a thick cloud of mist. as i did this i used my magic to open up the bathroom window and the steam started to funnel out. i smiled and i was dry now. i walked out of the bathroom and also let out a bunch of steam with my way out.

i trotted downstairs gleefully and the scent of pancakes filled my nose and i was getting hungry. i walked to the bottom of the stairs and into the kitchen ambitiously. and to my pleasure i saw that dash had whiped up a huge batch of chocolate chip pancakes. i don't know how she did it so fast but i don't care... i was starving. she sensed me and looked back from cleaning the skillet and she smiled when she saw me.

"hungry?" she asked.

"last time i ate was early summer." i replied she just giggled.

"well don't eat everything..." she said. "me and the kids still have to eat." and coincidentally scootaloo and dawn walked into the kitchen they both seemed a bit tired and groggy. when scootaloo saw me she trotted over and hugged my leg. i bent down and gave her a hug back.

"good morning dad." she said. i smiled and rubbed her head with my hoof and gave her a little kiss on the forehead.

"good morning scootaloo." i said smiling. dawn trotted over and did the same as her sister.

"good morning daddy." she said standing up against me and smiling. she was so cute and adorable it almost gave me a heart attack. i picked her up with one hoof and held her close. i gave her a little kiss on the head to and she giggled.

"and good morning to you too my little dawn." i said. she smiled and i let her down. she and her sister trotted over to the table and took their seats. dawn needed a booster seat to get at level with the table. dash walked over and took her seat too close to dawn to help her cut her pancakes and eat them.

i used my magic to serve everypony their pancakes and gave everypony an even amount of pancakes. scootaloo doused her pancakes in syrup and started cutting into them with a knife and ate them without thought. dash had to cut dawns pancakes because she's still too young to use a knife but after that she could use her little training fork to eat her pancakes with some syrup on them. even though she's older now dash had to use a wet cloth to wipe up some of the sticky syrup that she would get on herself every now and then. dash ate hers regularly with a bit of syrup and butter but i just scarfed mine down with nothing on them. i was SO unbelievably hungry.

"so..." i said. "what are you're plans today girls?" i asked my two daughters. "do you want to do anything special for hearths warming eve?" i asked.

" me and dawn were going to go and have a sleep over at apple bloom's house today." said scootaloo. "but... if you wanted to do something else that's alright." she said seeming a bit resentful. i just smiled to cheer her up.

"don't worry..." i said. "you have fun with you're friends... i promise that i'm not going anywhere this time." i said.

"besides me and you're father were going to go over to twilight's house for her hearths warming eve party." said dash.

"alright..." said scootaloo. she rushed over and hugged me. "thanks dad." she said. i smiled and held her tight with my hoof.

"thank you daddy." said dawn once again following her sisters lead. she was adorable. i smiled at her and she giggled a bit.

"no problem." i said letting scootaloo go. she hopped back into her chair. "just make sure to look after you're sister scootaloo..." i said. "don't do anything i would do." i said setting myself as a bad example.

"isn't the phrase, 'don't do anything i WOULDN'T do.'?" asked dash.

"not in my case." i said. scootaloo smiled and dash giggled a bit. i admit that i chuckled at my own crude joke. dawn started giggling too but i don't think she really got the joke. i think she was just giggling because everypony else was.

"don't worry dad." said scootaloo. "i'll make sure nothing bad happens." i smiled and nodded at her with approval. we continued to eat breakfast and scootaloo and dawn told me stories about what they did while i was gone. once they were finished with their stories and their breakfast and hour had already passed and they got ready to go. to their surprise and mine both they opened the door to see that it was actually snowing outside. dash just let out a small smile, i had a feeling she knew this would happen... well she is on the weather team.

scootaloo and dawn put on winter clothing and scootaloo carried dawn away in a small red wagon attached to her scooter. i smiled and waved them goodbye as they left. i smiled and closed the door. i went to the kitchen and saw dash was just finishing up all that she could eat. she still had a lot of food on her plate. i think i was the only one who finished their meal... and i was still insanely hungry. i looked at dash and she looked over at the leftovers still laying on the table.

"i shouldn't have made so much." she said.

"don't sweat it." i said. "like i said... i haven't eaten since early june." i said. i walked over and started finishing off the scraps. dash just smiled and rolled her eyes. she went to the sink and started cleaning dishes. while she cleaned i devoured the rest of the food in no time. i was feeling substantially less hungry now. walked over and used my magic to make quick work of the dishes while she was still scrubbing. i cleaned them and put them away. she seemed shocked then she just started to laugh a bit.

"that would have been useful the last three years." she said. i just shrugged and gave her a kiss.

"don't worry." i said. "i promise everything is going to be much easier from now on." she just smiled and i gave her a little kiss before we walked out the front door as well. we stepped outside and it was dreadfully cold... well i'm sure it was for dash... i couldn't really feel the cold too much. dash was shivering. i just looked over to her and used my magic to create a barrier of heat around her. the heat warded off any snow and melted the snow on the ground beneath her. she stopped shivering and looked around at confusion. "i told you things would get easier." i said.

"aren't you cold?" she asked me as we started walking down the short path to ponyville. i looked at her and smiled. if i was normal i would be shivering right now and getting frostbite... but that isn't the case here. it was probably something close to zero degrees and it was snowing. i had nothing on...nothing. but i just simply didn't feel cold. it felt like a nice autumn day at the perfect temperature of 70 degrees or so. not sweating my ass of or burning up but i'm not freezing either... like i'm just not affected by temperature.

"not really..." i said replying to dashes question. "are you nice and warm." i asked. as we were walking she was slowly melting the snow under her.

"mmm toasty." she said walking over and rubbing up against me. i could feel her heat hit me but it didn't feel much different from how i already felt. i smiled and leaned my head down and rubbed the side of my head against hers in a sort of snuggle, hug combination. she smiled and pressed her head against me. i pulled back and she did too and we continued to smile. it wasn't long before we walked into town and started passing by buildings. we also started passing by other ponies... and boy was that and experience.

the ponies we passed by either cheered, smiled and waved... or in most cases crowded around me blaring questions left and right. as i passed by a small shop and got a quick glance at a newspaper i saw my face and name was plastered all over it on almost every page. the only other news was the execution of scar... so technically i was on every page and every story.

"who ever thought you would be so popular." said dash. her voice was hard to hear over the roaring crowd following us. i managed to block out every other voice and single out hers. it was a nifty little trick.

"i kind of wish ponies wouldn't freak out and crowd around me." i said leaning in closer to her so she could hear me over the crowd. dash just giggled a bit and we kept walking to twilight's and it wasn't long before we got there. i had almost forgotten how close i live to twilight's house. we walked up to the house and i went to knock on the door but it opened anyway to reveal twilight. she had a smile on her face but looked discerningly at the crowd.

"hey crimson... hi dash." she said. dash smiled and waved to her friend.

"how did you know i was at the door?" i asked.

"i could hear and even see that crowd a mile away... you're the only pony i know who draws in a crowd like this."

"not like it's my fault." i said to myself. "so i heard you were having a hearths warming eve party... are you still going to do that or are we going to find something else to do for the rest of the day?"

"no the party's still on..." said twilight. "it's at five and goes on till whenever." she said... woah woah woah... hold on a second. did she just say it goes on till 'whenever? i remember twilight used to be very time based and organized... i guess something must have changed... and i'm pretty sure i know what it was.

i smiled and me and dash just turned around to head off into town to find something to do for the next 7 or so hours. there was still a huge crowd following us, but at least they were kind enough to part so we could walk by. once we were past the crowd we started walking down the street to go someplace else and like before the crowd followed us. i am starting to hope that this isn't going to last long. i hope that it's a phase or something and they get used to me after like a month or so.

"so what do you want to do now?" asked dash.

"i don't know... i don't really find much to be overly exciting after a while." i said. she just smiled and rolled her eyes. "we've got like seven hours... what could we do for seven hours." i glanced over to dash and she glanced back to me giving me a dirty look. i just chuckled and she smiled. i leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "lets save that for later." i said. she smiled and kissed me back.

"alright..." she said. "but i won't forget that." she said giving me a wink and making me smile. "why don't we go visit some of the others..." she said. " ah... see sweet apple acres is right over there." she said pointing to the dirt and snow covered path to apple jacks farm. "lets go say hi to applejack." i smiled and agreed.

we walked down the dirt and snow path to the farm. the crowd kept following us but i put up an invisible barrier to stop from following us. they couldn't push on and soon gave up and left. i smiled and dropped the barrier when they were all gone and by this time we had passed into the clearing of her house and barn. we saw applejack planting a few saplings into the ground with a shovel and wheelbarrow. me and dash both smiled and started to make our way over. applejack saw us and smiled.

"howdy dash..." she said walking over to us with the shovel slung over her shoulder and covered in dirt.

"hey applejack." said dash.

"hey..." i said as well. we walked over and met up with applejack. she gave me a bit of a dirty glare and i felt a bit nervous.

"howdy there crimson..." she said in a less excited voice. i knew what this was.

"so yeah..." i said. "about the wedding..." i said recalling that one horrible day. before i could get another word out she bashed me across the face with the shovel... in my defense i was asking for it, i deserved it, and i even saw it coming yet did nothing to prevent it. dash jumped back a little and filled with shock. i have to admit it did hurt a bit but i wasn't trying my best to not get hurt.

"what the hell applejack." said dash.

" i know you're mad but just listen." i said. before i could say anything else she bashed me across the other side of my face. i think she managed to break my snout in both directions. i let out a little groan of pain.

"thats for killing me..." she said angrily. i looked back over one more time but she let out another yell and swung the shovel back at me again. i steeled my nerves and the shovel hit me on the side of my head. instead of smashing me across the face like last time it hit my face and the metal of the shovel bent around my face. i was trying my best now and not even the shovel could hit me. dash and applejack looked at me in shock. she pulled the shovel back and curiously looked at the shape of my face now imprinted in the shovel.

"are you done now." i said looking down at applejack who seemed much less angry now. she let out a sigh of relief like she was happy that she didn't have to beat me with a shovel anymore. she threw the shovel behind her and leaped over and gave me a big hug.

"and thanks for saving me too..." she said smiling. i just smiled too.

"mind letting me know the next time you intend to break you're shovel over my husbands head." said dash walking over and applejack let go and stepped back.

"sorry sugarcube... i'll let you know." she said. "and i'll be sure to get a better shovel next time." she said smiling at me. i smiled too and knocked my hoof against my head.

"so what do ya'll need?" asked applejack.

"nothing..." said dash. "we're just stopping by and saying hi before twilight's party today."

"basically we're bored to hell and need something to do." i said.

"ya'll need to find jobs." said applejack.

"i already have a job." said dash.

"and i'm... well i'm me... i'm literally overqualified for every job." i said.

"a bit full of ourselves huh..." said applejack.

"do you think i'm wrong?" i asked.

"well i suppose not..." she said. "but if you can't get a job at least find a hobby or something to keep you busy."

"well i adventure..." i said. "but i think that can wait for a while." they just laughed a bit. we stood there and talked for a little bit before applejack had to get back to work so we left and said goodbye. we walked back down the orchard path and past all the dead appletrees and back into town. and to my luck the ponies in town didn't decide to crowd around and follow me but just stand and admire me. i think they got it in their heads... but i still don't care to much for the feeling of eyes always on me.

we kept walking around and we walked into the park which was seemingly empty. we walked around and enjoyed the snow and scenery. there were no songs coming from the bird's and none of the furry little creatures that usually inhabit the park could be seen running and scampering about. it was completely desolate and void of life. but still somehow it was beautiful and alluring. it was a great example of how even in death there can be beauty. being completely in tune with literally everything in the universe at once i never seemed to get angry at a few of the little annoyances in life. i can just reflect on the beauty of everything and feel at peace.

it really has given me a greater understanding of why things must happen and what everything is about. i know now to appreciate things more and look at the world differently. even though the tree's are dead i can still see the dormant glow of life in them and i can see what they would look like when they flourish and sprout in the spring. it was like everything was flashing before my eyes but remained in the back of my mind. it's kind of scary when you think about it.

"hey... hey..." said dash as her voice started to fade in. i snapped out of my trance and quickly looked over to her. "are you alright... you seem like you're really bored."

"no i'm fine... i was just spacing out for a moment." i said.

"because you're bored." she said. i smiled and let out a sigh.

"alright yeah... i'm pretty freaking bored right now." i said making her giggle.

"i can't imagine what you're going to do to keep yourself busy." she said.

"oh don't worry..." i said. "i'm sure it won't be long before trouble finds me again." i said smiling and contemplating a bit in my head exactly how long it would be before something does happen. by my estimated guess i would have to guess at the most likely within two weeks. if not then one and in an extreme case by the end of a months time... but no longer than that.

we walked around a bit longer and i continued to get the same excited and glamorous looks from all the other ponies that i came within 100 feet of. we kept walking around just for the sake of being together. it was just a little past twelve and almost time for lunch. don't ask me how i know that because i just do, its like there's a clock in the back of my head. i heard a deep rumbling next to me that broke our peaceful silence and i looked over to dash. she looked down at her stomach which was rumbling now and she blushed. i just smiled at her.

"getting hungry?" i asked.

"yeah a little." she said.

"wanna stop somewhere for lunch." i said.

"sure..." she said. "i would have suggested we stop at sugarcube corner and see pinkie... but that's on the other half of town."

"don't worry..." i said. "we'll see her at the party for sure." i said. "why don't we just stop someplace nearby and get some lunch."

"sounds good." she said. we walked around and we found a nice place to stop and get lunch when we ordered there was no surprise when the waiter at the restaurant freaked out over seeing me and was both clingy and overexcited. the place we stopped at was just a small restaurant at the corner of maple street. were weren't that many ponies there so that's why i chose it. so i would get less attention than i already have.

"what will it be today mr. crimson and miss dash?" asked the waiter acting as high end and professional as he could trying to impress me. i could see it was fake... i have a way of telling.

"i'll just have a plate of spaghetti..." she said.

"make that a large plate... we can share it." i said looking at her. she smiled.

"and to drink?" asked the waiter writing down our orders.

"just water." said dash.

"same." i replied.

"wonderful... the meal will be out soon... have a wonderful evening." he said walking away and soon disappearing into the kitchen. his fake mood was so bad it made me let out a sigh of relief that i didn't have to put up with it anymore.

"kiss-ass." i said softly turning around. dash snickered a little and got out of her seat. she sat down with me in the bench seat and rested against me. i just smiled and rubbed my hoof down the side of her back.

"sharing a plate of spaghetti?" said dash. " what kind of cheesy cliche love move is that?" she said.

"was it really that bad?" i asked.

"it almost hurts." she said. i just laughed. "you're just lucky i love you."

"you're right i said leaning my head down and kissing her all the way up her neck. "i am pretty lucky." she just giggled because my kisses were tickling her.

"stop... we're in public." she said quietly pushing me away and laughing the whole time. i just pulled my head back and smiled. i looked over to see that everypony in the restaurant had just seen that. it was a bit embarrassing but i didn't care. it wasn't long until the waiter walked out with our plate of spaghetti and water. he placed down the spaghetti with tomato sauce and garnish on top of it. he placed out water down next.

" here is you're meal..." he said. "bon appetite" he said taking a small bow and then carrying on. once he was far enough away i was free to speak.

"like i said... kiss-ass." i said making dash snicker a bit. she settled down and grabbed her fork. she stuck it into the pasta and spun some onto it and ate it. i just watched and took a drink of my water. and without noticing i had actually downed my entire glass of water... ice and all. i put it down and when i noticed there was nothing else in it i just stared at the empty glass with confusion and wonder... how did i do that.

"do you want some?" asked dash snapping me out of my trance and i shot my gaze over to her and away from my glass which used to be full of water and ice.

"is it still a painful cliche?" i asked.

"it is... but we might as well deal with it." said dash. i smiled and picked up a fork and twirled some spaghetti into it. "and maybe after this we can share a strawberry smoothie." said dash.

"you're mocking me aren't you." i said jokingly. she nodded as she slurped up a strand of spaghetti. the strand pulled up and was attached to the clump of spaghetti on my fork. "wait i got this." i said i bit into the spaghetti and pulled the strand into my mouth until we both met and kissed. dash laughed a bit and smiled as we pulled away and swallowed our food.

"real smooth." she said. we both just laughed.

"i didn't think that would work." i said.

"it almost didn't." she said. "you know you are my husband... you don't have to use cheesy moves like this."

"i know... but it's fun." i said. she just smiled. we both sat down and ate our food. i didn't eat much but i ate whatever was left when dash finished up. we waited for the bill but the waiter said the meal was free of charge. i still left a few bits on the table as a tip and for the meal. we left and continued to walk around town. that lunch burned up a good two hours and it was 2 in the afternoon now. only three hours left until the party.

"so what now?" she asked.

"i don't know... i'm not usually in one place for such a long time... i don't know what to do?" i said. we just kept walking down the street and we decided to cut through the park again and stay closer to twilight's neighborhood. as we walked through the park i looked around and admired the falling snow and beauty of nature once again. when i looked back to the road i saw a pony... or at least, it had the shape of a pony.

i looked like a shadow. it was black all over with soulless white eyes like holes dug into its head. it didn't have hair, it had a ragged tail that touched the ground barely it wasn't a unicorn or a pegasus but a simple looking earth pony... well not exactly simple but it was an earth pony. there were no details or features to it... just blackness. it seemed to kind of give off little strands of smoke like it was made of smoke itself. when i saw it i stopped and dash kept going. she stopped close to it and it was just a bit taller than her. but i could tell from the head shape and snout that it was a stallion. dash noticed i had stopped and she stopped too and looked back.

"what's wrong?..." she asked. she was standing right next to it but didn't seem to be able to see it... like she was completely ignoring it.

"you don't see it?" i asked looking between her and the shadow pony. the shadow pony just tilted its head a little like it was curious about me. it didn't blink it didn't make a sound... it just stood there. it was creepy as fuck.

"see what?" she asked.

"it's there... right next to you." i said pointing at the shadow pony.

"what are you doing?" asked dash. "theres nothing there. what kind of game are you playing with me now or are you trying to scare me."

"no really... it's right there." i repeated.

"what... what is there?" asked dash.

"i don't know... like some kind of shadow pony or whatever." i said.

"i think you're brain might have rotted a bit inside of that tomb." she said. the shadow pony smiled... it was creepy as fuck. it seemed to have fangs and the inside of its mouth was pure white like its eyes. the mouth looked like it was liquid because it stuck together from top to bottom at a few places like goo or something. it just sat there smiling strangely and staring at me. i tried running possibilities through my head on what this could be but nothing figured out. this was completely unknown to me.

" but... its there." i said. i pointed it out again. the strange shadow pony kept smiling at me and i looked over to see that it now had large tentacles growing out of its back. this made me jump back a bit in shock which made dash even more confused. i just stared at the thing and it stared back at me. i didn't know what to do, i didn't want to talk to it because then dash will think i'm psychotic. apparently she can't see it so it must be something with my mind, just playing tricks on me or something. mirella did say i developed an insanity clause.

"stop acting crazy lets go." said dash. i slowly started walking over keeping my eyes on the shadow pony. once i took a few more steps i stopped to keep looking at it it just looked at me and continued to smile. dash rolled her eyes and just started walking over. "c'mon lets go..." she said. i blinked my eyes a few times and it went away. i shook my head out a bit and rubbed my hoof against my forehead. "are you alright..."

"yeah... i'm just going crazy that's all." i said. she smiled and walked closer to me.

"here let me help with that." she said. she pulled me over and planted a big kiss on my lips. i closed my eyes and kissed back. we held the kiss for a solid minute before she pulled herself away and smiled. "better?" she asked smiling.

"much better." i said. smiling she started walking forward and i walked right beside her. i smiled at her and turned my gaze back to the road. i looked at the road only to see the shadow pony again. this time he seemed mad... very mad. with incredible speed, unrelenting force, and no hesitation it lashed one of its tentacles out and it sliced me over my right eye. all vision in that eye failed and i was stricken with incredible pain.

"GHAAA...AH OH FUCK!" i yelled out in pain clasping my eye. dash rolled her eyes and looked over. she was about to say something to me but when she saw me she screamed and rushed over. the wound wasn't in my head but it was real she could see it too. and the fact that it hurt that much and did so much damage at my level of power was the scariest part.

"crimson... crimson what happened?" she asked frantically. i held my wound as blood started pouring out and staining the snow under me red. i just yelled and grunted in pain. i looked over with my one good eye now to see the shadow pony was now gone in a puff of smoke. i let out another yell and more blood poured out of my open wound.

"ghaahaa... it was that...hnng... that thing i saw." i said struggling through the pain. i was definitely bleeding more profusely than the wound would let on. i removed my hooves from the wound and dash nearly threw up. i couldn't see it. "what... is it bad." i asked.

"oh sweet celestia... we need to get you to twilight." she said.

"wait why twilight." i asked.

"i don't think nurse redheart can fix this." said dash. "you teleport over there... i'll fly by soon after." she said.

"no i can... ghaaa" i tried to take her with me but through the incredible pain i could only concentrate a little of my energy.

"just go." she said. i looked at her and she just looked back at me. i just gave her a little nod and in a flash of light i was gone. even with only concentrating on myself the teleportation spell was imperfect and i ended up colliding with other objects between my first position and the inside of twilight's house. it hurt a lot and i seemed to be taking more serious damage now. but soon enough there was a bright flash and i was in twilight's house. i appeared in her living room and in a burst of energy i immediately ruined the room.

i pulled my hooves away from the wound and blood fell onto the floor of twilight's living room. i coughed a little and then threw up a pile of blood. this wasn't good. i could see there was some kind of black sludge in my blood. something was wrong. it didn't take twilight long to run downstairs at the sound of commotion and sure enough the face she made when she saw me and my condition was one of a kind.

"holy fuck... crimson." she said running down. "damnit what happened." she asked. i tried to speak but i found it difficult to say anything and it all just came out a gibberish. i puked up some more blood and the glowing lights on my body started to fade and just looked like scars. for once i wasn't glowing with energy. "c'mon crimson what happened?" she asked frantically while she rocketed through her books looking for an answer.

i soon found it harder to see and even breathe. i was clamoring for air and i started fading close to unconsciousness. i soon found it impossible to breathe and couldn't force air in or out of my lungs. i was growing weak and all of my muscles started to swell and ache. the skin on my body started to peel and tear and the same black sludge would start to ooze out of the wounds. i didn't know what was happening and i was afraid.

with less and less oxygen in my body every second i soon started to fade away. the only reason i could keep going was because i then coughed up more blood and sludge which was clogging my lungs. i took a breath of relief but i was still close to passing out from pain and blood loss. i could hear laughter in the back of my head. it was demonic laughter and it sounded like a small child laughing which made it even creepier. i could see the veins under my skin were pushing up against the surface and they were pulsing and black.

"c'mon crimson... just hold on... celestia will know what to do." said twilight. i couldn't hold on anymore. i fell over and made a splash in the blood puddle underneath me. at this point my body had quit trying to fight off whatever was killing me and i laid there still. blood kept filling my mouth as i laid there and falling out from the side like a small river or stream. a dark fog soon spread throughout the room and engulfed everything until it finally washed over me... then everything was black.

rainbow dash is going to kill me...

-Authors Note:...0-o- this is your face right now. (admit it...dont you lie to me). for most of you your probably wondering 'what the actual fuck just happened... what fresh hell is this?' and most of you are right to think that. i'm going to tell you all this once... this is the beginning of something BIG (with a capitol 'HOLY SHIT') this is the beginning of a new quest which i will not tell you about yet. but this one singular quest is going to eat up this entire story... then i'm going to add an ending and once more make a new story to start fresh. i promise yoou now that this will not be a short quest... THIS... THIS is what i kept talking about when i said i had plans, ideas, and when i said there would be a lot of action and violence and other things... this is it... this is the fucking story... so buckle down and prepare for a whole new kind of adventure unlike any fucking other... oh... and stay shady.-End of Note-


	19. Chapter 19: Taken

i slowly woke up to a blinding light. half of my vision was blurred but the other half was normal. i still felt an incredible pain over a great portion of my body and i grunted out in pain. it hurt to keep my eyes open so i closed them again. i could here faint voices but they sounded suppressed and strangely familiar. i slowly opened my eyes again and looked around at the white light which seemed less bright as my eyes adjusted. i could see that i wasn't even on the ground but i was floating.

i was floating in a ball of light inside of a hollowed out tree. there were bookshelves imprinted on all the walls and they were filled with books. i looked to my side slowly and saw three ponies. one of them was larger than the others two. a rainbow maned pegasus and a purple unicorn. they were sitting and talking to a large alicorn with flowing hair. she had pure white fur and golden armor. i knew them... but not their names.

the big alicorn is the princess of equestria. the purple unicorn is my best friend and the pegasus is... she's... dammit how do i know her. how can i forget about her. i know that we have a special relationship but i forget what it is. the princess looked up and saw i was conscious. she said something but it was muffled and i couldn't hear it. the other two ponies looked over and the white light holding me up seemed to break away and i fell to the ground. i hit the ground with a thud and my ears popped causing me to hear nothing but a high pitched ringing.

the two ponies ran over and flipped me over onto my back and sat over me. they were saying something but i was trying to fight to stay awake. i saw the princess slowly walk over and stand over me. i felt a pain in my stomach and curled up to try and help the pain but it didn't work too well. soon enough i could start to make sense of the ponies voices as the ringing slowly started to fade away and their voices came in clearer.

"crimson... crimson honey are you alright?" asked the rainbow maned pegasus.

"what?... ugh oh god my stomach." i said curling up a bit tighter.

"the wound looks really bad." said the unicorn.

"it's festering... he's lucky that you contacted me when you did... any longer and it would have taken his mind." said the princess. what were they talking about. the princess stepped in a bit closer and loomed over me with a worried face. "crimson... crimson do you know who i am?" she asked.

"uhgmmm... the uh... the princess." i said.

"no crimson... what is my name?" she asked.

"i... can't remember... i don't... oh god my head." my head started pounding the second i tried to remember her name.

"it's worse than i would have hoped." she said. i looked back and looked across the room. i turned my head and looked at the rainbow pegasus. i looked past her and saw that same shadow pony from before. he was smiling at me with his sharp fangs and creepy soulless eyes. the image of him instantly struck fear into my heart and i backed up as much as i could.

"no... get it away..." i said backing up. this caused the others to look over. i felt an overwhelming pain was over me and i started grunting in pain. the pegasus soon ran over and got on top of me trying to keep me still. her grasp was comforting but it didn't help much. i closed my eyes and shook my head and tried to make it go away and luckily it did. when i opened my eyes it was gone and i started calming down now.

"princess can you help him." asked the unicorn who was also trying to help me calm down. her grasp was also strangely comforting. the princess walked over and looked over me again with pity.

"i'm afraid he's already slipped into madness..." she said. "i'm afraid there is no easy cure..." she said. "i need to speak with him alone." said the princess.

"but... uh... alright..." said the unicorn. "c'mon dash lets go." she said to the pegasus... so her name was dash... i'm vaguely starting to recall that name but with little avail. they walked away and soon they left me and the princess alone in the room. she let out a sigh and sat down beside me.

"crimson are you sure you don't know my name?" she asked.

"no... i... it hurts to remember." i said holding my right eye which was burning up now.

"then there is little hope." she said to herself quietly. i still managed to pick it up though. "crimson i don't know if you will understand this but you need to fight it back... you need to be brave... and don't forget... always remember even when it hurts you must remember... or you will be lost to fear and darkness." she said. i didn't say anything i just laid there quivering in fear.

i kept my eyes darting around everywhere and needed to make sure that shadow creature wasn't anywhere close. i hate that thing... it scares the crap out of me. the princess let out another sigh and lowered her head down to me and looked me in the eye. i looked back into her eyes and i could see myself in them. it was like i was looking at myself through her point of view. i looked horrifying. i had a huge black and festering scar carved from the top to the bottom of the right side of my face. it cut down past my eye and it turned the whole eye black.

the veins connecting to the car ran black and pushed up against my skin and were visible past my fur. even the fur around my eye was turning black and ran around my eye like spikes and up to my hairline. it looked like there was some kind of sickening poison running through my body. as the princess pulled her head back i returned to my own point of view and looked around in shock for a second and she let out a sigh. i started feeling an incredible pain in my head and slowly fell back into darkness and passed out.

it wasn't long, however, until i awoken again. this time i was in a different place, it was a bedroom. it was a large room with an equally large bed that i was laid to rest in. the covers were pulled up tight up to my neck and my head rested gently on a soft pillow. i recognize this place but i can't put a name or location to it. before i could move i felt something brush up against me under the covers and it wasn't long until i noticed a head resting on the same pillow as mine.

it was the rainbow maned pegasus. she was sleeping next to me with her head tucked into my chest and her hooves wrapped around me comfortably. she looked peaceful while she was sleeping but the red rashes around her eyes suggested that she may have been crying recently. i felt bad for her, as i kept looking at her my head started to ache and burn. i fought against it and i could feel some kind of... relief.

i felt all my memories about her flood back into my head and soothe the pain in my mind. it felt almost orgasmic to have that kind of pressure just leave my mind but soon my moment of bliss was ruined when i looked over and spotted that sadistic, evil shadow pony sitting in the corner staring at me. i wanted to run away from it... but i needed to be brave like the princess said. i laid there and it just stared at me. i stared at it back but i soon lost our little contest and blinked. luckily after i blinked it was gone and i was alone now... well mostly alone.

i looked back down at rainbow dash... my wife. i knew who she was now... i remember everything about her. how we used to just be friends... our dates and our flirting. the marriage, our honeymoon, even our kids scootaloo and dawn. but unfortunately everything else was a blur. i can remember names but not faces and faces without names. its like i know everything i used to, but i can't put all the pieces together. like an unsolved puzzle... except i've got the rainbow dash part solved.

having my temporary piece of mind i grabbed dash by the waist and pulled her closer into me. i borrowed my head into the pillow so i could rest her head on my neck and i held her tightly as possible. this made her shake to life and look around but i just kept holding her. she pulled her head off my neck and rested her head back down on the pillow looking at me in confusion. i just smiled at her though.

"hello dashie..." i said. she smiled and lightened up a bit.

"you... you remember my name." she said excitedly.

"of course i do..." i replied. "i would never forget you..." i said hugging her. i looked past her and saw that it was only seven... that incident before must not have happened too long ago.

"oh thank celestia you're alright..." she said. "celestia said you're mind would be lost forever..." said dash pulling herself back so we could speak face to face.

"my mind isn't lost... but it is shattered completely..." i said... she seemed confused. "i managed to put some of the pieces together... i remember you..." i said giving her a kiss. "and the kids... i know all the names and faces... but i can't put them together... so i'll need you're help." i said smiling at her. she smiled back and pressed her forehead up against mine.

"well we need to get to work right away..."she said. "twilight is still having her party you know... that would be a good place to start."

"i know..." i said. "but i want to rest... my head really hurts."

"oh baby..." she said in a motherly voice. "let me make it better." she said giggling. she leaned over and gave me a big kiss on the head and smiled. "there... better?"

"haha... much better honey." i said smiling.

"good... you know... i know of something else that will make you feel better." said dash smiling and blushing too. before i could speak she pulled herself into me and planted a big kiss on my lips. i didn't argue and kissed her right back. i flipped over onto my back and held her on top of me. she pulled away from my lips and sat on top of me with a smile on her face.

"is this that something else you were talking about." i asked.

"mmhmm." she said biting her lips. she smiled and brought her hoof down to start massaging my cock. i let out a huff of pleasure and she leaned over and planted another big kiss on my lips. i kissed her back and held her tightly. she kept rubbing my cock until it was nice and hard . she pressed her pussy up against it and started rubbing herself with my shaft.

she smiled through our kiss and kept teasing herself with my cock. once she thought that it had been long enough she lifted up her hips and my cock stood straight up aligned with her pussy. she pressed her hips down and slowly push my way inside of herself. she reached all the way down and sat comfortably on my thighs. she pulled herself up and sat there blushing. when i opened my eyes to look at her i saw that shadow pony in the doorway. i was instantly stricken with fear and worry.

"what's wrong honey?" asked dash as the fear i was feeling was very noticeable by now. the shadow pony had fire in it's eyes and was bearing its fangs. it literally had fire in its eyes. it brought it's tentacles up and seemed to let out a high pitched scream that tore my eardrums in half... but dash didn't seem affected. i covered my ears in the hopes to make it stop... and somehow it helped... if i can block out it's sound... then there's no possible way this can just be in my head... which means this is something else.

"oh god... no make it stop." i said as the shrieking started to make my ears bleed. dash was now very concerned.

"crimson what's wrong?... crimson please." she said. but before i could say anything the shadow lashed out its tentacles... but not for what i thought. instead of slicing me and trying to kill me. they grabbed dashes arms which were holding me and pulled them back. she was thrust back and was now very confused and scared. "what... crimson help." she said. seeing dash in danger a fire burned inside of me and i flew forward and grabbed her. the shadow continued to pull her away but i kept hold of her. "crimson help..." she screamed.

"NO... you can't have her!" i yelled but the shadow pony started to scream louder... now dash could hear it and she covered her ears as much as she could. the screaming died down and dash could see the tentacles on her arms now. she looked back and her eyes narrowed when she saw the shadow.

"oh god what is that" she said. it bore its fangs again and growled. i held onto dash as best as i could and started using my wings to pull her back. the house was shaking now and i could hear things around the house fall over and break.

"you can't have her... she's my wife... i love her." i said holding dash. this only seemed to make the creature mad and it lashed out more tentacles... but instead of grabbing hold of dash, these ones went right for me. they went behind me and started slashing at my back. i yelled in pain. i could feel my grasp weakening as the blades went through my body and began to slowly eviscerate me. with little energy left i let go and fell to the ground.

i watched as i slowly faded away as the creature grabbed dash and she screamed and struggled. the shadow pony just wrapped her up in more shadow tentacles and silenced her. the tentacles stopped attacking me and went back to the shadow leaning my insides almost non existent and the flesh on my back almost all gone. the shadow pony smiled and as i tried to clamor to life my vision faded and i fell into darkness.

this was not the darkness of death though... no... death cannot have me now... not when i have a purpose now. i know that this thing exists in life. it has taken my beloved rainbow dash and all i know is that she is one of the most important ponies in my entire life and now she's gone. you cannot believe the rage that rest within me now. when i find this thing there will be hell... i will burn the world just to find her.

i have new power now... and this... this demon thinks that it can challenge me. i will destroy this being with such power that not even it's soul can be saved. i will not rest... i will not sleep... and i will never ever stop until this thing dies. there is no place in hell equal to that of my wrath. i know this thing isn't part of my mind so that means it can bleed.

and if it bleeds... it can kill it.

-Authors Note: yay kidnapping and abduction... woo. so yeah, i'm sure most of you know where this is going already. if you dont know where this is going let me foreshadow the rest of the story. the rest of the story is going to be about crimson heading out to go and get rainbow dash back from this shadowy creature. the details will be explained in the next chapter two chapters which i will post on Friday i'm busy tomorrow and over the weekend so i wont be posting. but then i'm on break next weak so yay. i hope you all have a wonderful valentines day tomorrow... or if your reading this in the future i hope you HAD a wonderful valentines day. i hope you kids have fun... but not TOO much fun (lol). remember: stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	20. Chapter 20: Another New Quest

"RAINBOW DASH" i boomed as i immediately returned to life. i shot up and stood up straight in my room. the walls were spattered with blood and so was i... it was my own blood. i looked around and she wasn't here. i started racing through the house left and right searching everywhere and shouting her name as loud as i could. "rainbow... rainbow dash... please where are you." i would shout running through the shaken and messy house.

when i got to the back door i saw that it had been torn open and blackened by shadows. as i looked at it i could hear her screams but they were only in my head at the time. her pleading face haunted the images in my head. she needed me and i let her down. i should have been stronger... i should have been quicker, i should have never let my guard down... i should have killed that thing where it stands. i sat down on the ground and started wallowing in my own self pity... but then i started to get angry... extraordinarily angry.

as i sat there and started to grind my teeth to dust in anger i started glowing the brightest white i've ever glowed. energy start pulling itself to me and a sort of whirlwind of energy pooled around me and started pulling things into it like a tornado. my body began glowing and i rose to my feet. the ground was cracking underneath me and i felt a great energy welling up inside me.

I was teeming with rage now. I slowly stood up in the middle of my living room and started glowing even brighter with energy. I shone brightly and the light from my body cut through the windows and cracks of my house causing it to rupture the still and cool darkness of the morning. It sliced right through and there was a terrible rumbling as I pulled more energy to my body and flourish of red and angry energy found there way past the light.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as I pulled all my energy to me and fired it into the air. Little did I know how much energy I had really pulled to my being. A huge blast of white energy fired into the air and it covered my house and all the forest around it. Soon the white beacon was covered by a spiraling tornado of black and hateful fire. It fired upward and broke through the heavens and cause the blue tint of the sky to fade until there was only the gleam of stars in the sky.

Looking up was like staring into space as the beam seemed to fire up in an unending fashion. The black fire spread and covered the area around my house and the ground cracked and shifted around me. I was glowing and breaking down with energy now. The fur and skin on my body were reached with nothing but light now. Dark burning fire covered my body and my eyes glowed a hateful and rage fueled red... The power in me was too much and I could no longer maintain my current shape.

I soon grew to be three feet taller and my wings flew to my side with grace. The feathers stuck out like razors and they seemed to cover from end to end of my house. The horn grew from my head and spiraled with the red glowing symbols. I was a white glowing being, surrounded by black fire with red glowing symbols running along my body. I was truly a sight to behold... And to be feared.

As I continued to erupt with rage I was made aware by myself that this would never help get dash back... And that it was just pointless destruction and hatred. I soon started to calm down with this in mind and the fires of my dark anger soon faded and the great white beam started to fade and dissipate. I stopped glowing, the ground stopped shaking, and I soon returned to a solid figure with my armor and gear now glued to my body with magic. I was still in my new figure with great glistening and glowing wings and a fierce razor sharp horn.

Seeing as I had started to rise up into the air from the sheer force of the power I started to sink back down onto the ground. I slowly floated back down and soon sat down on the ground. The area was designated and destroyed. The house I loved was now rubble and ash on the ground. The trees and forest around where blown away and burst into splinters and ash. Small black fires still burned in every other place and the star light sky soon started to fade back to its dark and murky blue. It was just before morning but I'm sure that everypony was up and had witnessed the spectacle.

I sat there and let out a depressing sigh. It was filled with such great sorrow that all the pieces of wood and any remaining plants nearby withered and rotted. I sat there in the middle of my destruction and weeper silently. The ground beneath me grew moist with my tears. I didn't cry... But even I, couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my face and hitting the ground. I had a blank expression on my face... Well not completely blank. Anypony with working eyes could see the soul shattering depression that was filling me with dread and sorrow.

"Crimson?..." Said a voice behind me. It was a familiar voice... It was twilight sparkle. I remember her now... I didn't even have to look behind me to tell it was her. I could also tell she was with the others. But it was only the five of them... No of my other friends or even the townsfolk came with them or bothered to check up on me or see what happened... Either they were afraid... Or running away from what they might think is their demise... They are smarter than they think to avoid me... I'd avoid myself if I could... But I can't.

"Crimson is that you?" Asked applejack behind me. I could feel the uncertainty in her voice and the confusion. I had expected that much seeing as I was a completely different being now. They must be very confused. I wanted to say something, to at least explain what had happened... But I'm afraid that if I open my mouth more anger would escape... I was already trying my best to fight the anger back with sorrow.

" what happened here... Where crimson and rainbow dash?" Asked twilight. I took a deep breath and forced back some of my tears. The mentioning of rainbow dashes name filled me with more anger and I started to glow a little bit more... But I calmed myself down, and instead of bursting out in anger I turned it into motivation and determination. I was filled with the motive to get my wife back and destroy anything in my way.

" rainbow dash is gone..." I said standing up and now towering greatly over the five ponies. I still had my back to them and my wings spread out wide.

" gone... Where is she... Where is crimson... Who are you?" She asked firing off hundreds of questions at me.

" dash is gone... Taken by darkness... And as for crimson..." I said. " he is gone too... But I know that he will make this right." I said turning to face them now with determination in my eyes. They looked at me and they could see the whole story in my eyes and they just looked at me.

" oh, my..." Began rarity.

" crimson?" Said twilight cutting of rarity

"After all I've been through... After all I've done, all that I have become. I will not sit by while this world makes a fool of me and throws me around... I was just starting off before but that is over... Now... Now I fight back." I said walking past the others. " whatever this is... Whatever it thinks that it is... It will die... I will snuff out the darkness and save rainbow dash mark my words... This is the end of crimson blast..." I said.

****"and the rise of a god."


	21. Chapter 21: And Then Some

I stood there before my friends with a new figure, power, determination, mission, and a new name. I was no longer the hero king crimson blast. I am the god of balance and order. I will find the dark shadow that took my wife rainbow dash and I will destroy it. But before I do that I need to know what exactly I'm up against and just how I can defeat this creature. And I know just the pony to help me with this. I looked back behind me to my friends.

" crimson... What... What happened." Asked twilight.

" the darkness took dash last night and has carried her away... I'm going to hunt the darkness down and find her." I said in a monotone voice. I acted as if I wasn't a completely awe gathering beacon of light.

" no... Well... What darkness are you talking about... And what happened to you?" She asked again.

" I do not know what the darkness is." I said.

" crimson ah don't hate ta interrupt but uh... What the hell did you turn yourself into?" Asked applejack. I just raised an eyebrow at her.

" what she meant to say was... What the hell happened to you?" Asked twilight pushing applejack to the side.

" I simply became what I was meant to be..." I said. " I passed all the tests and became a greater being now... More powerful than I can hope to describe."

" I don't understand?" Said twilight...

" me neither." I said. I looked over and set my sight on the canterlot palace. I looked at it and just in time the sun slowly rose up over the horizon... Good, that means celestia is up and awake. Without hesitation I teleported away and soon I was in the front gate of canterlot castle. As I appeared the force of my arrival caused the ground to shatter and crack under me. The guards at the gate where blown away and tossed asunder. I just walked forward towards the gate with determination in my eyes. I need to speak to celestial... She can help me with this.

I walked past the gate and into the garden. I walked past the garden as the light of the sun shining from the tip of the castle caressed my fur. I soon made it all the way to the front door which was now being covered with guards who looked at me with awe and shock. They must not know who I am either. They had their spears ready to attack me but they were trembling and shaking. They were not ready to fight some pony like me. Just my figure was terrifying to them as it should be... Like celestia said, there hasn't been a male alicorn for millions of years... And now one is at the front door of the castle.

" Move..." I bellowed. Almost instantly they all shoved to the side and I used my magic to open the door. I walked in and saw guards everywhere and they all just backed away and looked at me with fear and a tinge of respect. I wanted to make this quick. I need answers and I don't have time to explain. My fuel of anger and determination was driving me to push past my compassion and replace it with assertiveness. I soon got to the top of the stairs in the main hallway and to the stairs of the throne room.

I used my magic to forcefully push the doors aside and I started my way into the room. At the end of the room I saw both Luna and celestia at the end of the throne room near the throne itself. They were talking and chatting away but they stopped when they laid eyes on me and turned with their mouths almost to the floor and their eyes were wide. Celestia managed to gain some composure and pick her jaw up and just look at me with disbelief and confusion.

I continued to press forward into the throne room and I was halfway to them. They still stared at me with confusion and shock. I could fell the intense emotional energy emanating from them. I could only imagine to what this must be like. It had been over a million years since they had seen a male alicorn and I know how celestia has been lately. With her loneliness and her depression I couldn't help but feel a spark of hope light up inside of her heart.

" who... Who are you?" Asked Luna with curiosity and surprise.

" it's me... Crimson." I said. I could see they grew even more shocked and I felt the spark of hope in celestial heart quickly flourish before dying out. That however wasn't enough to change her expression. She kept the same look. " I need your help." I said to both of them.

" I know what you are looking for." Said celestia speaking up now. Her voice was filled with more emotions than her face could show. " you're here because of the shadow you have been seeing." Said celestia.

" it took my wife... It attacked me and my wife and ran off with her last night, celestia you are going to tell me everything you know... Now." I said getting very aggressive knowing she has the answers that I need.

" come with me." She said after letting out a deep sigh.

" no... Tell me everything now." I said. She looked at me and just let out another deep sigh.

" the thing that took rainbow dash is a demon known as shal- grahkan the immortal slayer." She said .

" so he's immortal?" I said.

" no... He kills all immortal beings and damns their souls to his own syndicalism pit of hell." She said. That was a bit unsettling but I know that I would get dash back no matter the cost. " he probably took dash so he could lure you into his lair... He can only kill immortals there in his lair..." She said.

" where is it..." I asked. She looked at me and I could tell she wasn't going to try and keep me from doing whatever I needed to do. I felt a tinge of regret and something like remorse as well towards me. She was confused and didn't to now what to do. She could only give me what I was looking for.

" a different realm called the ether..." She said. " that is his own dimensional dwelling."

" how do I get there..." I asked. She remained silent and just looked at me. " tell me." I said getting more aggressive.

" I don't know." She said. That made me a bit mad. I let out a small burst of energy that shattered the ground under us and let out a frustrated grunt. I looked at Luna and her sister celestia. I could see the fear and confusion in their eyes. I could see that once again I can't let my anger control me... Or else I'm doomed to hurt the ones I care the most about. I just settled down and with compassion and care once again filling my heart I used my powers to change back to my old form. Back when I was at celestial height. The transformation was a lesser shock to the two sisters.

I just sat down on the ground with my eyes closed in shame. I kept my glowing wings to my side and hid my face and my mask under my hood. I sat down and the clanging of my magical armor filled the room as the two sisters looked down at me with pity. That soon turned into compassion and I watched as celestia took a seat with me and her sister followed her lead and sat down as well. They both looked at me and I let out a small sigh of confusion.

" I know what you are now..." Said celestia putting a hoof on my shoulder and making me look up. " I know what you have become and I can tell you that hatred and anger will only end up destroying you and making me into something you don't want to become." She said.

" I've learned this lesson better than anypony." Said Luna. " don't let your inner darkness take control and cover your light... Don't let your emotions get a hold of you... The only feeling you need are compassion and love."

" this road isn't an easy road..." Said celestia continuing her speech. " you're going to face a lot of troubles that you can't avoid or delay. Trust me when I say that anything you can do to keep yourself happy through the hell of your life is a blessing that you'll soon smile upon hundreds of years from now... Immortality is not a blessing... It's a test of faith." I just looked at celestia and smiled. I felt some hope now.

"Thank you..." I said smiling and they too smiled back at me.

" I know that rainbow dash is safe... Shal-grahkan is not interested in her... He wants you." She said. " she took her to lure you into his lair so he may kill you and steal your immortal soul... But I can help you." She said. " I cannot make this journey with you but I can show you the way." She said.

" please celestia... Tell me." I asked. She smiled and her horn glowed. A scroll appeared out of a bright light and she held it up and unrolled it with her magic. It was a map of some kind. It wasn't a regular map however. It was a bunch of circles and swirls... Like a map of space. " what is this?" I asked.

"This is the map of your journey..." Said celestia. " unfortunately the path to the ether is not a straight path... You must pass through multiple dimensions and gateways to get to your destination... This map will point you in the direction to the gateways... Your first is on this world... Outside of Equestria."

" different dimensions huh..." I said grabbing the map. I looked at the map and the ink and writing on it shifted and twisted into a map of the world. It showed the continent we were on and other ones. A bright glowing trail carved itself into the paper and it lead across the world to a different continent. i looked at the map and the route that was glowing was surprisingly familiar. first it goes through the northwest and into indigo city.. oh god i haven't been there in years. then it cuts through the mountains into the outer forests of oasis... so i'll have to cut through from the south city and into the north city... also cutting through the center. next it takes us to a port in , 'the sea of oblivion'...lovely. then off to the new continent of stallasia... clever.

"this isn't going to be an easy trip crimson..." said celestia. "sister, inform his friends and family... crimson come with me please... i want to talk with you in private."

"uh... sure." i said. we all got up and princess luna disappeared in a flash and i followed celestia as she started to walk out of the throne room. she went down to one of the halls and i followed her for a while. she stopped and walked into a library looking room. when i walked through i was soon in a different room than the one seen through the doorway... it was celestia's magic study. she walked over to the window of the tower and i stood behind her now. she let out a sigh as she gazed out through the window then looked back at me.

"i know what you have become..." she said. "i've known since you're soul first left from scars body." she said... i froze as i was caught at the truth. "and i apologize... i did not yet know you were scar until after we had executed you..."

"princess... how do you know?" i asked.

"i may not be a god like you." she said making me freeze again. "but i am a greater being... not a god but a simple imortal... i'm what would be considered a demigoddess... half mortal half god... my father was the god of the sun... you would not have met him since you have become an elemental god... the sun isn't an element... it's a being on its own"

"so you could sense what was becoming of me and what i had become already?" i said.

"yes... and i'm proud of you..." she said. "i never thought you would pass... but you did. you proved me wrong and have passed... and i can think of no other being who deserves it more." she said with a big smile on her face.

"celestia...I... i don't know what to think anymore." i said. she seemed confused but then she smiled again. she leaned in a bit closer... and then she planted a huge kiss on my lips. i was taken back at least fifty miles by her actions. she just went out and kissed me. but in all fairness i couldn't argue... it felt right. i stood there and admittedly kissed her back. the passion she had was radiating off of her and her lips were warm and soft. she closed her eyes and fell into ignorant bliss at the light of the moment. i should say that i had done the same as well. but after a few minutes she pulled away and looked at me. i looked back at her and my whole view about her had changed dramatically.

"i'm sorry..." she said. "i know you are married and you are going to get you're wife back... but know that if you confront shal- grahkan there is a real chance that he can kill you... this may be the last time we ever see each other and i couldn't live knowing i let somepony slip away without knowing how much i love them... i know that you must go and save you're wife... but please... be careful crimson... you're death would be the saddest death to fall the universe... don't let that happen."

"celestia..." i said looking into her crystal pink eyes. everything i knew about her was different now. her hopeful but worried face and her concerned smile seemed rather detrimental to her natural attitude. but it filled me with courage and determination. i looked at her and stared right into her eyes as i smiled. she looked up at me and seemed confused by my smile seemed to spread over to her and she smiled the same way too. "don't worry celestia... i won't die... i love you and my friends too much to go off and throw it all away by dying..."

"i wish i could go with you..." she said. "but as the ruler of equestria and goddess of the sun i am bound to this realm... if i leave the sun would burn out." she said. i just smiled anyway.

"thats alright... besides we can't risk the princess of equestria getting hurt or killed..." i said. "but i must know celestia... how is it this being is an immortal killer." i asked.

"i may not have answered that question as correctly as i should." she said. "shal-grahkan is immortal... but it's because he is immortal that he can kill you... there is a law of nature that restricts the combat of immortals... but that soon faded to just an understanding between them... all but shal-grahkan. while we can't kill each other normally in these worlds shal has created his own world were his will is law... and immortals can die... this will also be his downfall." said celestia.

" so that's why he must lure me to his lair." i said. she just nodded.

"yes... outside of the ether immortals can fight but they cannot be slain and sent to judgement... they often do have battle for sport or to rank dominance... i can tell you that being immortal and living you kind of lifestyle don't be afraid to die... it's just an inconvenience." she said.

"what happens when i die." i asked.

"well last time i was killed i just watched from the planes of purgatory until my physical body was done healing... then my body was given back and i claimed my place amongst the living... this is what happens to defeated immortals... they must wait for their bodies to heal and then reclaim their lives. the more serious the damage the longer it takes." she said. i was becoming fascinated by this. being as reckless as i am this was like a free ticket to just fuck around and be free... it was awesome. i had almost completely forgotten the fact me and celestia had just kissed very romantically a few minutes ago.

"so what's the difference between me when i was an omni god and now?" i asked. "there doesn't seem to be much."

"well i can sense that you have been imbued with the gods of the beginning elements so you have unparalleled power and strength which i would hope you only use when you need to..." she said. "and you can still gain more power from absorbing souls and powerful magical items like you could before... but you immortality was just a means... you could trade souls with death to live... but every time you save yourself, the value of you're soul goes up... now you are simply immortal but can still barter with death to save others..." said celestia. it felt nice that me and celestia were actually on the same level now... or i might be on a higher level when it comes to power but she has a much larger intellectual level.

"but i have absorbed the powers of death." i said.

"yes that is true but you are not death itself." said the princess. "death has existed in all dimension and all planes of time and space... life and death were the beginning and they are the end... life was the first god but once life started there must be death." i just looked at her and she stopped talking. she was blushing a bit and i was too. i think know all that i need to know... so now it's time to go on my way. its time to begin another big quest.

"is there any advice you can give me before i leave for my journey?" i asked. even though i knew all i need to know about myself i still want to know about the journey ahead.

"i can give you this..." she said. "it won't be easy... i can tell you that you have never met a greater challenge than this i promise you that... and it certainly won't be the last challenge you face in your existence... but like all challenges some are better left to face alone... but others aren't, crimson." she said. "dont face this alone... it will only destroy you... bring you're friends... they will help guide you through this challenge." she said. "but in return you must protect them... there are benefits to friendship but there are also dangers... don't let you're friends fall... if it comes down to it fall yourself... because you can get back up better than any of them..." she said smiling. i smiled too and stared back at her.

"thank you princess." i said smiling. she looked back and smiled too.

"please be safe crimson." she said. "and know that i will be waiting for you." she said before leaning in and planting another big kiss on my lips. again she surprised me but i couldn't help but kiss back. this time wasn't so sudden and was well times too. we sat there and embraced each other with passion and love before she pulled away and smiled. i just smiled too. "now go... you have much work to be done..." she said. i smiled and got ready to teleport by turning and walking to the door but she stopped me. "and crimson..." she said.

"yes princess." i answered.

"keep you're emotions in control..." she said. "don't let you're inner darkness drive you... it will only steer you wrong and you won't come out alive. neither will you're friends or you're loved once... just look at you're friends." she said. "honesty, kindness, generosity, laughter, and loyalty... together with a touch of magic and enough faith... you will survive this... i know." she said. i just smiled at her and she did too. i concentrated and started glowing. soon enough i was gone in a flash and with a large boom i was at my wreck of a house. when the light faded i could see my friends were gone and the house still rubble. it was well into the day now... at least an hour went by. i looked at my destroyed house and the land around it... i don't want to go out like this.

i concentrated and soon everything started glowing different colors. the pieces of wood and ash returned to normal and soon pieced themselves together like a puzzle and started floating around in the air. the trees glowed green and started pulling themselves up and stood perfectly straight as they started rejuvenating and reattaching to the trunk. the destroyed ground below me started raising and fixing itself to be flat again. once it was flat life returned to the soil and grass started sprouting up from the ground. not only that but beautiful flowers and plants. even the once dead winter trees grew leaves and flowers and even fruit.

despite the snow all around and the harsh cold outside the area around my house was warm and fertile. the house itself soon fit back into place and was fixed and looking even better than ever. the grey cloudy sky seemed to clear and the clouds parted. sun shone through and the whole area seemed to sparkle and glitter with life. i let out sputters of golden yellow and glowing energy. they surprisingly took form to be butterflies and they fluttered about. when i was done concentrating i opened my eyes and looked around. the peaceful serenity of it all made me smile and feel like i had finally come at peace with myself. it felt natural and right.

"holy crap." said a familiar voice from behind me. i turned and to my surprise i saw all of my friends... all of them. there were my original five friends twilight, fluttershy, pinkie, rarity, and applejack. i also saw derek, mystee, ezekiel, blackhoof, even nightflame was here. they all had gear with them as well as a few of them wearing armor, clothing, weapons, and saddlebags... they had all their gear with them. "nice home improvements." said derek. "now lets go get you're mare back."

"you all came to help me." i said looking over all of them.

"well of course silly." said pinkie.

"we couldn't let our best friend leave again without us..." said rarity.

"besides me and mystee know the outside world." said black hoof standing with mystee smiling.

"yeah and i think it would be great to get out of equestria for a while." said nightflame. i just looked over all my friends and smiled at them. they looked at me and smiled back. it was really touching that they all decided to come and join me on my dangerous quest. it almost brought a tear to my eye.

"thank you... all of you." i said. "this really means a lot... it does, really."

"dash isn't just you're wife... but she's our friend." said twilight.

"yeah and don't worry about scootaloo and dawn... mr. and mrs. cake said they would be more than glad to watch over them." said pinkie. she went on to rant about other things but it wasn't long until i tuned her out. it gets easier every time she talks.

"are you sure all of you are just ready to leave equestria with me... it is going to be dangerous." i said.

" are you kidding me..." said derek. "i've been itching to have a grand adventure with you and all my friends since you left a few years ago... this is going to be awesome."

"it means a lot you all want to come with me on this quest... but i can't take all of you." i said walking over to my first five friends. i looked at them and they all stared back at me with confusion. "you five need to stay here." i said.

"no..." said twilight. "we're coming with you... dash is our friend and we want to help."

"you guys don't have good fighting experience, survival instincts, or knowledge of the outside world. you don't know what to do and you mean to much to mean if i lose you." i said.

"yeah thanks." said derek. i just glared at him and rolled my eyes.

"but we want to help you." said twilight. i watched as fluttershy, rarity and the others walked over.

"maybe he's right." said fluttershy in a coarse voice. "we don't know what we're doing... we wouldn't last long." she said.

"i have to agree with fluttershy darling... we just aren't cut out for this kind of adventure." said rarity. twilight looked at her friends and then back at me. i looked at her and she let out a deep sigh. i smiled and she looked up at me smiling as she accepted defeat.

"fine... you're right... we need to stay here and make sure everything is just the way you left it when you get back." she said. i smiled at her. "but don't die again..." she said.

"you don't have to worry about that." i said. it was true, she really doesn't. i don't even have to worry about dying. "now..." i said turning to the others. "i have a map of where we need to go so that's good... but the rest of you go home and pack some more supplies for when we get to the border of equestria... there won't be many cities or towns out that way so we need food and supplies... we will all meet at the west exit in two hours." i said. "everypony got it?" i asked. the others just smiled.

"yep." they all said in agreement. they all rushed back home to get supplied except for twilight who gingerly walked over and joined me as i watched the others race home. the other mane four went back to go help with supplies and provide some if necessary. soon they were all out of view down the winding path and twilight let out a small sigh. i looked down at her beside me and smiled.

"why do you always have to get yourself into trouble." she said.

"i don't know twilight." i said. "but sometimes it feels like my job."

" i would go as far as to say that it is you're job." she said. laughing a bit to herself.

"well maybe it is." i said breaking her laughter. she looked up at me curiously. " think about it... i always get in trouble because it's drawn to me. maybe i'm supposed to get in trouble so that nopony else has to."

"you really think that." said twilight.

"i have no idea what the hell to think anymore twilight..." i said. "this quest is a lot bigger than you think... there's another reason i didn't ask you to come." i said.

"and what is that." asked twilight.

"because i know that my enemies will play to my weaknesses... and i know that you or the others would not survive... the only reason i'm bringing the others is because i want to spend the last few moments i can with my friends before i march off to my death." i said.

"you're not going to die..." said twilight. " and besides why wouldn't you bring us."

"i won't bring you because you need to be here... this is you're place in the world." i said. " and i do plan on sending the others back when i reach a certain point... but i'm afraid you and the others wouldn't make it to that point." i said.

"so you don't want us to die... but we know that you aren't going to die... you can't... you're an immortal." said twilight.

"that may be true... but there is a chance... a very real chance that this time i might actually die... and when i do die i won't be coming back." i said.

"you can't let that happen." said twilight. "i know that you won't."

"and i'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen." i said looking at her. she was starting to get emotional and i could see a few tears in her eyes. "but you should be aware of the grim detail twilight."

"no... you can't die... when i heard you were immortal i knew that meant you would always be there for me... through everything... even when i'm old i'll never have to see you're face change and we can still be friends like we are now." she said almost crying. i reached over and picked her up and hugged her. she started to calm down.

"i will always be there twilight... even when you thought i was dead you got by... and i can't promise you i won't die. but i promise you that i won't stop until dash is safe and my enemies are defeated... if i don't come back twilight... i want you to know that i love you and the others." i said putting her down now. i knelt down to get on her level and i looked up at her. "i love you, rarity, fluttershy, applejack, pinkie, and rainbow dash... even if i do die for real i would still make the effort to see you all one last time before passing." she seemed to cheer up a bit.

"you really do love us don't you... i can always tell when you make promises if they'll come true or not. and i know that you are going to hold this promise... it's not like you to break you're promises so easily and with no reason... but promise me... please just promise me you will come back... please do me that even if you can't keep it... just say that you'll come back." she said. i looked at her and smiled.

"i promise..." i said. "i promise that when this is all over and done i will come back... and we can be friends again. we'll have adventures in equestria, play games, go to the beach and hang out, have fun, and i'll be there many years from now when you're old and you're children are out adventuring. i promise i'll be there, for each of you to hold you're hoof and sit calmly with you..." i said smiling. she smiled too.

"and when the day comes that i would lay on my deathbed i want you to be there along with my friends... and i want you to walk with my soul to the afterworld." she said.

"i would instead carry you're tired soul to lay and be at peace... and i'll be sure to pass you're stories down to you're kids. and their kids... i'll be there for you're family even after you're passing... i'll help you live on immortality with me... and the same with the others." i said. she was getting emotional again and she had tears welling in her eyes as she began to cry gently again but kept a smile. she leaned over and hugged me tight.

"i know you'll keep that promise." she said. "i can feel it."

"and i will..." i said. "i promise that i will always be there for you. and even after you pass there won't be a day that i forget a friend like you." i said. "i'll sit on top of a mountain of gold but still miss you..." we smiled and kept hugging as i felt a few tears reach my own face and fall to the ground. i let go of her and sat down and smiled at her.

"thank you..." she said. "and please... hurry back this time."

"i will twilight." i said. "now... we should get going." i said as i concentrated and used my magic to teleport the two of us. we both appeared at the west exit in a flash of light and sparkling color. we sat there with still and hour and a half left before the others start getting here. i just sat there with twilight and she sat there smiling.

"crimson..." she said. "before you go... can you answer a question i've had for a long time." she said.

"sure twilight." i said.

"why do you keep going." she asked. "or simply... why... why do you do the things that you do."

"well twilight." i said letting out a sigh. "i would just say it's because i love you all, but that's too simple." i said looking up at the clearing sky. "i guess it's because... because i feel like i have too. i have nothing else left for me. my home and family on earth are gone and i have nothing if i should ever go back. though i was sad for a long time i came to peace with my life and saw that this was the dawn of a new life... i had a fresh start. i made amazing friends, i got remarried to a loving wife and i have two wonderful children. in a way... i found my true life."

"is that why you stay and fight." asked twilight.

"yes." i said looking at her and smiling. "i fight because i have to. and i have to fight because i need to protect the ones i love. if i don't then not only would they hurt you but i wouldn't be able to live with myself if any of you got hurt. before on earth i just used to fight for nothing... mindless violence and killing for what? land, money, resources... all pointless. the ends never justified the means... but now they do. i fight so i can have peace... so i can keep my friends and family... and that friendship is worth more than all the land or money or resources in the world."

we sat there and smiled at each other. we sat down and stared off onto the road leading out of ponyville. we just sat there... no words, no movement, no sound... just peace and resolve. it was almost like the world just froze for a while and everything was stuck in place and perfectly still... like a painting. it didn't feel like long but after a while the wheels of a wagon broke the silence of the moment and i turned to see everypony walking up to us with smiles on their faces. they had a huge cart of supplies covered with a blue tarp.

"ready to go?" asked thunder rush walking over with the rest of us. i even saw my two daughters who had come to say goodbye. they both rushed over and jumped at me. i picked them up and held them tight in my hooves.

"dont go again daddy." said little dawn. scootaloo was more aware of the situation but still couldn't help by try and keep me in this one place for as long as she could.

"daddy has to go." i said.

"no..." argued little dawn with a mild voice. "don't go..."

"daddy has to go get mommy." i said.

"no daddy please... i miss you... daddy don't go." said little dawn... this was literally breaking my heart and the hearts of everypony around. the once happy and determined mood was now mercilessly crushed by sadness and regret.

"i wish i could bring you girls but i can't... it's too dangerous." i said.

"c'mon dawn... dad needs to go." said scootaloo hopping of with remorse and grabbing dawn but dawn held onto my leg and almost started crying.

"no no no... i want daddy to stay... daddy don't go please." she said begging now with tears in her eyes. this was probably the most painful thing i've ever seen, having to watch a cute and innocent baby girl beg for her dad not to go away... i'm a horrible father. i always say that this is it... that this would be the last adventure... but it never is... i can never be with the ones i try to protect.

"c'mon dawn don't do this." said scootaloo tugging on her sister but dawn just held on. it was so much simpler when she was a baby and was ignorant to these things... but that's changed and she's become more aware.

"no... please daddy no... " she begged. i couldn't keep her like this... as much as it pained me i needed her to stop before i break down in a fit of depression. i picked her up and held her as tight as i could. she cried and i held her and comforted her. as i held her i used my magic to slowly put her to sleep. she soon stopped crying and was out like a light. i held her and she curled up in a ball in my wings. i just looked at her and almost felt like crying... but i stayed strong. i walked over to scootaloo's scooter and placed her in the little red wagon.

"please take care of you're sister scootaloo." i said still looking at dawn however.

"uh... i will dad." she said.

"always be fore her..." i said looking at scoots now. "please promise me you'll never abandon her, and that you'll always be there for her." i said kneeling down and hugging scootaloo.

"i promise dad." she said. "can you promise me that you'll come back with mom." said scootaloo. i didn't want to give her the same speech i gave twilight because i'm afraid her reaction would be cataclysmic. she doesn't know that i'm in actual danger and her only comfort is that i'm an immortal being.

"i promise." i said simply avoiding a disaster. i set her down and she smiled at me lightly and i did the same. i stood back up and faced the others. they're look was sullen and depressed. after that i can't blame them. there was no way of leaving on a happy note now, not after that scene. i looked over at derek. "are we all ready?" i asked.

"yeah..." he said. "we have food, water, money, and supplies... plus we have this for you." he said using his magic to make a saddlebag appear in thin air... they were my saddlebags. "we kept them the way you like them." he said smiling. i smiled to and used my magic to pop them on my side and tighten them... i felt whole now.

"alright... thank you." i said looking at him. i took a few steps away from ponyville and faced my friends. "i'm sorry i have to leave so soon after coming back... but there's apparently no rest for my soul. i thank you all for understanding the circumstances and for those of you who are coming with me... i thank you... now... it's time to go." i said. i turned and started walking and the others followed except for the mane five and my daughters.

it was just me, derek, blackhoof, mystee, ezekiel, and nightflame. we walked down the long path and soon enough ponyville was out of sight. it was depressing and dreary but at the same time encouraging... but only to a point. as we walked down now we stayed silent. there really wasn't anything left to say. nopony could think of anything. the only sound was the crunching of snow under our hooves and the creek and loom of the cart being pulled by ezekiel with little effort. but at a sudden chance i heard a small voice in my head. it sounded like the princess's voice.

"you have begun you're journey now and you know what you must do..." she said. "but be careful... there are many here who care too much for you to die and never return to see them. you're family, friends, wife, and even i would be miserable without you... always keep to the company of you're friends. they have decided to risk their lives to help you and would gladly fight to protect you as you must for them... their friendship is the kind that cannot be dimmed by darkness. the kind that cannot be drowned out by noise or by water. the kind that will always push through and make things right in the end."

"their friendship is magic..."

-Authors Note: got some hot celestia action in there... you guys like that, yeah... i know you did. so that's the adventure... it's a trans-dimensional adventure of epic proportions. so i gave you guys this little tidbit because i was busy yesterday and unfortunately i'm going to be busy over the weekend. i've got an MMA kickboxing tournament in New York City... long island. i'm going to be fighting full contact... no hesitation, no regrets, no mercy. the first place prize is $2000 which i would use to buy a better computer... then save the rest. it goes down $500 for every level bellow that until it reaches fifth place which is $250. it's gonna be pretty awesome.

depending on how it goes and how beat up i am at the end of it all i might even take Monday off too... maybe. but anyway i hope you guys had a wonderful valentines day like i did. and know that some of you guys and gals out there got pretty lucky... unlike me. but anyway keep reading and i hope you all are enjoying the story so far. and if any of you have ideas for adventures or concepts for different dimensions i'd like to hear them. i've already got five planned out that i'm keeping... that's all i had planned to do was just five but if you guys have any good ideas i wouldn't mind squeezing in a few concepts here and there.

and also as i'm sure you guys have already been able to tell is that ive brought the OC's from the last story over into this one. i intend to keep as many as i can but in order to keep these characters i need good background information. i regret to say that there was an OC by the name of Red Wing who was given to me by** Geargamer.** i regret to say that i was unable to use him as well as some you might have hoped and this is a public apology on my behalf. i could not use him as much as you might have wanted because i wasn't given much background information and details. if your reading this now Geargamer, there's still hope for your OC if you can send me a more detailed description.

and for any other of my fellow readers and bronies (or pegasister's). if you want to send in an OC feel free. you'll be credited for the character and also it'll be awesome. just send me as many details as you can... hell write a fucking book about them, i'll read it. i'll add them in the story whenever i feel the time is right or you can suggest a way for them to be introduced... perfectly fine with me, though it might be subject to minor changes. i'll try and keep your OC for as long as i can before they would eventually fall behind. the more information i have however the easier it will be to keep them in longer or even add them as a permanent character. the permanence of the character really does decide what they're like and how the character lives, acts, or reacts to situations. if you would recommend that i read a story about your OC that you have written then i will do that.

i'm trying to make this our story guys not just my story. i'm offering creative freedom to the reader... the freaking reader... that means you. you cant go buy a book at barns and nobles and decide how the story can go... but with this you can. now i obviously cant take every idea that you guys fire off at me because then this would all turn into a huge mess. but i will try my best to turn things around as much as i can. but there are a few of my own ideas which i have decided to be solid in my story. if your idea affects that directly i'll let you know so it doesn't seem like i'm mindlessly turning you down. so you guys read up, have fun, and start thinking of cool shit you would like to see in the story. i have to start driving down to New York and punch people in the face. wish me luck guys. and remember...stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	22. Chapter 22: Onward To Adventure

" so uh... Crimson... Where are we going?" Asked mystee who trotted up beside me. It was about time some pony broke the silence. I was starting to cheer up now as was everypony else. We were miles away from ponyville now and walking through the dead winter forest. The sky was grey and snow littered the ground. It was very depressing to look at and certainly didn't fit the mood of adventure.

" yeah... Where are we going?" Asked Nightflame. I looked back at them and used my magic to pull out the map celestia gave me. I opened it up and showed them the glowing trail cut through the map.

" the glowing trail is our path..." I said explaining the map. " it brings us through several small towns as well as manehattan then las Pegasus... When we leave Equestria we travel until we reach indigo city... Then from there is through the mountains and into oasis which we will have to tread through." I knew everything about the map.

" is that all?" Said Derek sarcastically.

" we'll no..." I said. " the country of oasis is just a large city buried in a giant forest... We'll be walking through it for a few weeks unless we find a faster means of getting across... Then we head the the twilight ruins it looks like and then to the sea of oblivion where we sail to the western country of stallasia."

" holy fuck..." Said Derek. " what the hell is this thing and why does it live on the other fucking side of the world?"

" I should probably fill you all in on the details I guess... No point in all of you not knowing." I said. I took a deep breath and began talking. " this thing is an immortal demon by the name of shal- grahkan. I stole dash to lure me into his lair so he can kill me and add my soul to his collection."

" you're making this up... I swear he makes these things up as he goes." Said Derek to me and then to Ezekiel.

" his lair is in another realm called the ether... That's where we are going." I said. " unfortunately the ether is not in stallasia. It is in another dimension. So we will have to climb through dimensional portals until we find the ether."

" I think you're right." Said Ezekiel to Derek.

" don't believe me huh?" I said. " you're welcome to head back... Only a few miles and there's plenty of daylight left."

" nah... I think we'll tag along for the fun of it." Said mystee. She looked at me and smiled and I just smiled back.

" yeah should be fun... Even if this is a joke it should be worth the run." Said Derek.

" would I really drag you to a different continent for the sake of a joke." I said looking back at him.

" you shot me in the leg once for the sake of a joke." He said.

" oh yeah... I remember that." I said thinking back on an elaborate joke I played on him back on earth. It was really confusing and unnecessary... But totally worth it. " you have to admit that it was pretty funny." I said looking back at him and chuckling at the memory. He did the same and smiled.

" yeah it was pretty good." He said smiling. The others just stared on in confusion.

"So..." Said Nightflame flapping his wings and quickly flying over to me. " how come we don't just fly there?"

" there are only two of us with wings." I said. " you and me... And while we might be strong I don't think we're strong enough to carry three others along with a cart of supplies... We can walk... And I think that when we get to the next town we can take a train."

" why didn't we take a train out of ponyville." Said mystee.

" yeah... We could have easily gotten tickets." Said Derek. That was a good point.

" I guess it just didn't come to me... Oh well... The next town is only a day away... We can rough it out until then." I said. We continued down the cold winter road and we just mingled really. We talked about random stuff and one conversation lead to another. Over and over again we would talk about random things and laugh at jokes and memories. But I was sensing something close by. Some kind of danger... So I kept alert.

And suddenly without warning an arrow fired through the bushes and pierced me through the side of the head... And god did it hurt. I fell to one knee and started clenching in pain as two masked bandits walked out from behind the snow banks. The others looked at me with horror and shock while they walked out and smiled. Soon I fell to the ground and started bleeding... But I wasn't dead.

" alright... Give up the goods and nopony else gets hurt." They said. They were holding bows with arrows ready to fire. The others looked in fear except for Derek who gleamed at them with anger. He charged his horn for an attack but one of the archers fired his arrow but Derek soon turned his magic attack into a shield that covered the group of us.

" that's alright." Said the other bandit. " we can wait until you run out of energy." They sat there and kept their arrows tight to their side in case they drop the shield. I laid on the ground fading into blackness but soon I came back and I was perfectly aware. But I still had that arrow in my head. I guess getting killed is going to take some getting used to. Although I don't think I'm really dead... Probably just a wound since I'm not in purgatory right now.

I let out a moan of pain and slowly crawled back to my hooves like I was just getting out of bed. The bandits looked over and I think they almost shit their armor. I got up and stood on all fours facing away. I slowly turned over and rubbed my throbbing head. The others looked at me with shock but Derek had a devious smile on his face. I looked at the robbers who stood there shaking and holding their bows up and aimed at me.

" ow... That wasn't very polite." I said looking at them.

" what the hell..." Said one of them. " you... The arrow... The fucking arrow shot through you fucking skull." He said. The other one let the arrow in his bow loose and it hit me square in the middle of the head. I yelled out in pain and stumbled back. Now I have two arrows in my head and it hurt like a bitch.

" would you quit doing that." I said. " it fucking hurts." They just looked back with more fear and shock.

" what the fuck are you." One of them said as they both backed away. I looked up at them and the arrows in my skull burnt to ash and fell to the ground reviewing my head which should be wounded but isn't. I looked at them and started glowing furiously and soon my armor fixed itself to my body and I stood there glowing brightly.

" your nightmare..." I said glowing a dark red and black. The ground cracked and a rift opened up starting from me and ripped the ground oped under them. They fell down screaming into a glowing pit of fire and lava. Before they hit the molten inferno I shut the rift closed and all was quiet. I stopped blowing so brightly but kept my armor on and still glowed my old pure white and put my wings at my side. I let out a deep gust of air and started to relax now.

" holy shit dude." Said Derek lowering the shield and walking over to punch my shoulder lightly with his thick dragon bone armor. " that was freaking sick... That must have hurt like a bitch."

" yeah... It did hurt a lot." I said. " at least now instead of them being evil I can use their souls for a good cause if I need it." I said slowly feeling their memories seep into my brain as their souls being so small, quietly and unknowingly seeped into my being.

" that was quite impressive." Said Ezekiel. I smiled at him and looked to the sky. The once light grey sky was now fading to a darker shade of grey as the night was soon to fall upon us.

" I think we should set up camp here." I said looking at them. I looked over to an area covered by snow and In seconds it was on fire. For only a second though, before I stopped the fire and all the snow had melted to reveal a circular area of grass for us to set up camp. And that's what we did.

We set up tents which mystee had blessed like her families wagon. So the space inside was larger than the tent itself. Ezekiel and Derek went out and found some fire wood. Nightflame would light the fire when we got the campfire ready. Until then he went out and gathered some snow buried stones to contain the fire. I was in charge of the hard part.

I walked over to one of the trees close by and looked at it. Everyone else was already done with their jobs and I was the only one not done. I just needed to figure out how I would do this. It didn't take much longer for me to figure it out. I used my magic to bring up a long blade of light ready to cut the tree but before I could I was interrupted by Derek who was standing over there with the others in the increasing dark.

" hurry up crimson... It's getting cold." He said. I just rolled my eyes and went to work. I cut the tree and used my magic to push it forward a little. It leaned over and I walked out in front of it. As it fell it fell on my back and almost crushed me. But I stood up and carried the huge hulking tree on my back. I carried it over to the camp. Derek just smiled " about time." He said.

I threw the giant tree to the ground and it landed with a rumbling thud. I used my magic to cut the tree into pieces and trim the top for firewood. The trunk of the tree soon became five logs for us to all sit on around the fire and we had more than enough firewood now. We set up the fire pit and Nightflame lit the fire. It burned brightly and just in time for the darkness and cold to settle in. We took our spots and sat down by the magical fire which warmed us all around.

" so not bad for the first day." I said.

" yeah well you died... So I'm not sure if we should be so grateful just yet." Said Nightflame.

" actually i died twice." I said. " took two arrows to the head." We all just laughed and I used my magic to grab food from the cart and pass it out to everypony. They were mostly just magically preserved foods like sandwiches and pies, cakes, muffins, and other things. We all ate our food and tossed away the trash.

" so what's the plan for tomorrow?" Asked Ezekiel. I was going to answer but mystee beat me to it.

" gonna go to the next town and catch a train." Said mystee.

" pretty much." I replied. " it'll save us time and energy... Plus we won't have to burn up as much of our supplies if we can just order catering on the train."

"Sounds good to me..." Said Nightflame sitting back.

" I'd rather be out adventuring but I guess this isn't a quest we can just be lazy with." Said Derek.

" we'll there isn't much to see in Equestria... All old stuff... Wait till we get out of Equestria." Is said. " that's where the good stuff is." We all just smiled and so did Derek. We spent more time sitting out at the camp fire before it started to really get late and the fire died out it was getting cold and we all turned in to our own tents. The night air was cool for me but the others must be freezing. I got to my tent and when I walked in the first thing I noticed was a rush of warm air.

The tent was now in the form of a room. Like when I was picked up by those traveling hunters a long time ago. It was like that where it was a room shoved inside of a tent. There was a desk, bed, rug, and even a few candles everywhere. I walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair. Using magic I pulled a scroll from thin air. I did them same to make a quil. I started writing on the scroll and he quill generated its own ink.

I finished up the scroll and rolled it up. It was just a letter to twilight so that we can keep in touch. I vow to write to her all the time no matter what. And with my new magic and abilities I don't need magic ink or scrolls. I held the scroll and it glowed. It burst into a cloud of sparkling lights and the lights drifted off to go to twilights house. Seeing them go made me smile and I left the desk.

I went over to the bed and laid down. I used my magic to put out the candles and I laid my head down on the pulling and pulled the covers over me. The bed was strangely big enough for me... Everything was, come to think of it. Mystee did tell me earlier she made this tent for me... I guess I see why. I rested my head and closed my eyes. I started drifting off and soon I was dreaming

I hope that rainbow dash is alright.

-Authors Note: i know that this chapter is a little short but dont worry... i was in a bit of a slump when i was writing it. i had been in a bit of a slump for a while at that time but i just downloaded the movie BRAVE, if any of you have seen that movie it's pretty awesome. i just watched it... now i'm writing the next five chapters of my story, that movie inspired the hell out of me. so yeah, this is officially the beginning of the adventure and it might get a little boring from crimsons point of view since you know, he's pretty much seen all there is to see in equestria. so it might be a little boring until they cross the border and hopefully i'll get done with that as fast as possible. it is going to pick up when they are out of equestria and it is definitely going to get better when they leave the continent and go to Stallasia. and then, you know, different dimensions and stuff, which is always fun.

and i would also like to thank you bro's for sending me some OC's. i will admit some of them are hard to register in at the story at this point since the pace of it is very fast and there isn't much time to settle down into one place. i am trying my best to insure perminant places within the story but i do apologize if i ask you to wait a while like i have done with some OC's. but you guys are sending me a lot of details on your characters which is nice... but it would be nicer if you didn't just cram it all down into one paragraph and send that to me. it would help if it was organized and not one continuous thing, that makes it hard to keep track of details. i'm not going to completely reject your character if you dont organize their details but i'm just saying i would appreciate it.

oh and on the notice about the fight i was just in. i know some of you bro's have been wondering and i'm proud to say that i made second place (WOOHOO). that means i just made a solid $1,500. that's easily enough to buy a nice new computer and some other cool stuff. the other fighters where pretty good and i have to say that they deserved their place as much as i did. i am in pain though... much pain. i have a few cracked ribs, been spitting up some blood for a while now, and my nose is broke to hell. doctors said i'll be fine but to take it easy... so i'm going to be taking it easy and healing for the next week because luckily it's February vacation. so i'll be in my room writing more chapters for you bro's and probably playing video games. so yeah, stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	23. Chapter 23: Just A Setback

I slowly woke up to the faint sound of other ponies hooves trotting against the ground outside and the shifting of gear and armor. I slowly rose from my bed and walked out into the cold morning air. It had only been minutes after the sun had come up over the horizon and Derek was outside just pacing around. There was no pony else out and he didn't have his full gear on. Just the leg plating. And some of the under armor.

" what are you doing?" I asked him. He looked over to me surprised at first but then he smiled.

" oh, hey crimson... I didn't think anypony else would get up this early." He said. " I woke up awhile ago and I couldn't fall back to sleep so I'm just going to trot around out here until the others get up."

" you bored or something?" I asked.

" uh yeah... Really freaking bored." He said. He seemed a bit finicky and energized like he had to go to the bathroom or something.

" do you need to go for a run or something?" I asked him.

" yeah I think a run would be good." He said. Without hesitation he bolted off and started running down the road. He disappeared over the small hill but soon lurched back over and ran around the camp. He repeated this track for a while while I found an interest in watching him. It wasn't long before he stopped back at the camp and out of breath, but still finicky. I don't think it's possible to be tired and energized like he is... But I guess it's not.

" did that help?" I asked him.

" I'm really tired now... But still itching to go and do something." He said.

" are you sure you're alright?" I asked. " what did you do last night?" I asked.

" nothing..." He said. " I sat down at the fire, ate a sandwich, we told stories, then I went to bed... Woke up awhile ago feeling really bored and I couldn't go back to sleep... Now I feel like I just drank three coffee's."

" I think you just need to sit down and take a few deep breaths." I said.

" alright." He said sitting down. He closed his eyes and started taking a few quick breaths but they soon grew deeper and longer. He almost seemed calm now. " hey it works... Thanks." He said smiling.

" I put up with shit all the time... How do you think I deal with it." I said smiling at him. " c'mon lets get some breakfast." I said " and lets skip the coffee this morning." He smiled at the joke and we walked over to the cart and got some breakfast. I walked over and pulled up the blue tarp. And we were both greater with an unexpected sight. I couldn't help but feel like I was a fool for not sensing this ahead of time.

Laying under the blue tarp were two ponies. A purple unicorn and an orange cowgirl... Twilight and applejack. They were sleeping up against the boxes of preserved food huddled together with a blanket over them. They seemed peaceful and it surprises me that they slept through the harsh winter cold. Twilight probably used some kind of magic to help... Dammit twilight.

" uhhhhh..." Sputtered Derek.

" ssshhhh." I said keeping him quiet. I threw the tarp off of them and gave them a disappointed look. But it didn't do ,ugh good with them being asleep. I looked at them and the blanket over them is probably what's keeping them warm. I grabbed the blanket and ripped it off from on top of them. It wasn't long before the chilling winter air reached the, and they began to shiver. and slowly and quietly twilight opened her eyes and looked around lazily resting her head on applejack. "hey there sleepy head... have a good rest?" i asked jokingly.

"mmhmm..." she just said without thinking. soon her eyes shot open as she had realised her situation. "oh shit..." she said.

"oh shit is right." i said getting more angry now that twilight would stow away like this.

"huh... what's going on." asked applejack as she too slowly woke up from her sleep and looked around. she looked at twilight's nervous face and started to wake up a bit more. "what's the matter twi?" she asked. she turned around and followed twilight's eyes just to face me and my red hot gaze of disappointment. "ah shit." she said as she became startled and pressed backwards against twi. i glared at them and derek soon shared the same look of disappointment with me.

"there better be a really good reason why you're in there after i told you to stay in ponyville." i said looking at them.

"crimson we can explain." said twilight. i let out a deep sigh.

"then explain." i said looking at them.

"we didn't want ya'll ta get hurt." said applejack.

"thats a poor explanation." i said.

"we didn't want you to go..." said twilight. "i told applejack and the others what you told me and i couldn't handle not seeing you ever again if this demon kills you." said twi. derek looked at me with a strange face. "i couldn't live knowing that would be the last time i might see you."

"ah tried to stop her." said applejack. "when she refused i came with her." i stopped glaring at them and stood up straight. i still bore down at them with a look of disappointment that i could tell was cutting into their hearts.

"how did you get here?" i asked.

"last night when you sent the letter... i traced it and teleported me and applejack here... then we hid under the wagon tarp." said twilight. it was meagerly impressive of her to go through the effort to find me. i looked down at them and they looked down like children who had been punished for doing something bad. derek looked at me with anticipation on what i'll say. i let out a deep sigh which seemed to carry exponential weight as it foreshadowed my response.

"you two better get some food... it's a long trip." i said. the response seemed to perk them up excitedly and they got off of the wagon and hugged me.

"thank you crimson." said twilight smiling and hugging my leg.

"don't thank me yet." i said. "you're in this till the end now... no matter how badly it goes, understand." i said.

"it can't go that bad." said applejack.

"you might find comfort now that we're still in equestria... but the outside world is not an easy place to tread. you have until we reach the border to decide if you want to continue or not... after that there's no going back." i said.

"how long until we get to the border?" asked twilight as she get us all some food. i saw that mystee ezekiel and nightflame were now emerging from their tents to see us. they were also quite surprised at the sight of our new groupies. i also noticed black hoof making his way outside too with a mugish look that changed to suspicion at the sight of twilight and applejack.

"we're going to travel by train when we get to the next town." i said. "i would teleport us but the poison of that demon left me shaken and it might be a bit longer until i recover."

"uhhh..." said mystee walking over and seeing twilight and applejack. twilight just smiled and waved and applejack tipped her hat.

"they caught up to us last night and stowed away in the cart... their coming with us." i said.

"how did they do that?" asked black hoof quietly.

"magic or something." i said. i looked around and everypony was now here. "alright i think we should pack up and head out... it'll be good to head out early so we can stop at the town and have time to catch a train." i said.

"sounds good." said ezekiel.

"well lets get to it." said derek perking up. his attitude seemed to perk everypony up with him. we went around and started packing up and getting ready. once everything was packed and the tents put away and everypony had their gear ready we sat down at the firepit and had some quick breakfast. when the food was done we set up and started carrying on. i pulled the wagon and i did it with ease. we left the campfire behind for the future use of anypony else.

we trotted down the road for a little and it was rather silent. once again the snowy and dead forest was depressing sight. and the clear blue skies combined with the shining sun only seemed to contradict each other. the wet and melting snow glistened in the sunlight and it was almost blinding. the air was crisp and there would occasionally be a cold breeze. the cool breeze would hit against us and cut like a knife. i stood unimpressed by the cold while the others seemed the same too. except for twilight and applejack who i could see were freezing in their own fur. they didn't have anything on except for applejack who had her hat... but that won't help.

"you girls cold." i asked walking up to them with the cart. i looked at them and they stared back at me. twilight wanted to tell me that it's fine but she knew i could tell they were freezing.

"yeah... i didn't think this out too much." she said.

"here..." i said using my magic to heat the air around them and keep a barrier of warmth around their bodies like i did with dash the other day. "that will keep you warm." i said. it did, they soon stopped shivering and seemed to relax in the comforting warmth.

"whew... that's much better... thanks sugarcube." said applejack smiling at me.

"we better get you two some gear... the mountains past the border of equestria or cold and unfeeling. not even i could keep you from the cold." i said. We continued to walk down the path and kept heading to the small town. It wasn't in sight yet but it was close. It would take us at least another hour to reach. So we still had a bit of walking to do. I hope we get there soon because the silence around us is becoming very unbearable.

No pony was talking, everyone was silent. There weren't any birds or animals to rustle the bushes or sing from the trees. It was the silent, cold, and lonely dead of winter. The cold breeze was silent and passed us without notice. The sky was clear and the sun shone down from up above. I just looked up and seemed to stare into the sun. It didn't hurt my eyes and I wasn't going blind. I just looked up at it and it seemed to stare back at me.

I felt as if celestia was looking at me now through the sun and wishing me luck. If she was looking down at me now I'm sure it would be with worrying eyes but still with a smile on her face. A smile of encouragement and determination. I'm not sure if she is but I pictured that smile of hers in my head anyway and it made me smile. I also couldn't help but remember our kiss... It was the most suddenly romantic thing I've ever witnessed. It was scary at first... But then it felt like everything was alright... Like it was meant to happen. Who knows, maybe it was meant to happen.

" ugh..." Said mystee. " I hope we get there soon... This forest is depressing." It's about time some pony broke the silence. It felt good to hear another voice. It caused me to stop daydreaming and I looked away from the sun to look in on the conversation.

" I don't know..." Said black hoof. " I kind of like it... It's sort of interesting... How these trees and plants die every winter but come back to life in the spring." He said looking over to me and winking.

" trees don't die in the winter." I said. " they hide... They keep low and don't show their beautiful leaves, flowers and fruit until spring when everything is nicer and all the ponies are out to see them." I said.

" that's pretty deep..." Said Derek.

" it's not as deep as most things... But yes I suppose it is." I said. I looked back I front of the road and there was a small hill coming up. We reached the hill and wasn't long until we reached the top. I looked down over the hilltop and saw the town. It was hiding over the hill and rested down below surrounded by the dead forest. It almost looked like ponyville. I could even see the train station from here

"Finally..." Said Nightflame. " about time we got here."

" alright... So we need to pack up the food and get tickets." Said twilight as we started walking down the hill. She had already began using her planning skills and other abilities to think up an organized plan of approach and attack. " everypony has money right?" Asked twilight. Everypony nodded and spoke in agreement, except for me.

" uhh..." I said.

" don't worry crimson." Said Derek. " we went back to your fixed up house and saw you even fixed up your chest of gold... We took your coin pouch and just ran it through." He said... Oh god I could have hundreds of thousands of bits in here. Especially with my coin pouches infinite storage. " the pouch is in your bags."

I opened up my bag and checked until I found my coin pouch. It was pure white with a golden cross on it for my cutie mark. I grabbed it and held it open to see how much money I had... And there was much money. I had to guess with my incredible sense of... Well, everything, that there was well over 200,000 bits in here... And that was just an estimate. This might last me a long time in Equestria but in other countries where the currency is broken into copper, silver and gold, I might be the single richest pony out there.

" you have enough in there." Said Nightflame laughing at my surprised face.

" I might have enough here to buy a small island... Or a huge castle." I said.

" it can't be that much." Said applejack.

" I'd believe that." Said twilight. " after all your bag does expand infinitely own the inside."

" hey look we're here." Said mystee pointing out the town in front of us that if the conversation had continued, we would have walked right through with no idea. We walked into the small town and started looking around. There were ponies all around walking around and smiling. They looked at us with awe and surprise... And a little bit of confusion. I could feel most of the eyes were fixed on me and Derek since we stood out the most. He was wearing dragon bone armor with a dragons skull as the helmet. And I... Well I was being myself.

I looked up around the houses and spotted a clock tower off in the distance. It wasn't even close to noon yet. It was only quarter of ten and we were already here. We have time and a half to get train tickets. So now might be a good time to go around and see if we can't get anything else we need. I walked forward with the cart and took lead. The others followed me and I stopped us inside of a park near a tree. I pulled the carts harness off of me and stretched out my shoulders and legs. We all gathered around.

" alright so we have plenty of time before the day ends." I said to them all. " I think we should go to the station and buy tickets for a later train then go around and see if we can't find any supplies for the trip."

" sound alike a plan." Said applejack.

" sure, why not." Said mystee.

" alright let's go." I said. Me and Ezekiel switched positions and he pulled the cart now. We walked over to the train station and we walked inside. Ezekiel left the cart outside and we all walked in. We walked to the middle of the room and I spotted the train schedule. I went over it and looked down the list. I smiled when I say a train leaving from here and going straight to manehattan. It leaves at four which gives us plenty of time.

" there we'll get the four o'clock train to manehattan." I said the others just smiled in agreement and we went to the front seat to buy our tickets. I got mine first and waited outside while the others quickly joined me after.

" alright then." Said mystee. " now what?"

" I guess we can just leave the cart here and split up." Said Derek.

" what if some pony steals our stuff?" Asked Nightflame.

" I'll take care of that." Said twilight. She looked over towards the cart and her horn started glowing a violet light. The cart shone the same bright purple and there was a bright flash. The cart seemed to radiate with energy but then faded. I could feel the magic surrounding it however. She had put a shield up so it would be safe. " there... Now no pony can touch it unless I break the shield."

" alright then..." I said. " let's split up... We'll all meet back here at 3:30 and catch the train." I said smiling. The others smiled and spoke in a agreement. And so we all split up. Mystee, Ezekiel, and Derek all went together on one direction and twilight and applejack went another way. Black hoof trotted away in his own direction and Nightflame just launched himself into the air and flew off. I stood there and watched them all go. I soon did like Nightflame and fired myself right into the air.

The force of my lift off caused the train platform to crack under me and glow with light shining through the cracks. They quickly faded but I was already past the few clouds straggling in the sky. I reached the sky and floated there for a bit. I took a deep breath and let my large glowing wings flap slowly beside me. It has been a while since I've flown... I have no idea why I don't use my wings as much as I should. I guess I just like to be well grounded and down to earth... That could be a reason, I think.

I looked down over the small town and tried to spot out anything that interested me. To be honest there really isn't anything i need. I have my own weapons and armor. I don't have to eat and drink as often as others. I can cure all diseases and heal any injury. I'm pretty much built to survive. Don't get cold or hot... My body stays at a perfect temperature and keeps me comfortable, but I can still feel the slight changes in the temperature. Honestly there isn't much to do when your at my level.

Bit suddenly I hear a faint scream and a cry for help. Without looking I followed my ears down to a lower height and followed the sound. I floated above the rooftops now and looked down in an alleyway beneath me. There was a mare who was getting mugged. The thief was holding her purse and a knife to her. I looked around to see if anypony else would help but this wasn't a very good neighborhood. I let out a deep sigh and decided to take care of this myself.

I flew over and floated above the mugger. I clutched my wings together and dropped to the ground. I landed right on top of the mugger and he let out a grunt of surprise and then started moaning in pain. As I fell on him he let go of the mares purse and it spun in the air for a second. I caught it before it fell to the ground and smiled. I stepped off the mugger and kicked him over to the side. He grunted in pain and I looked at the mare.

" here you go ma'am." I said smiling. She looked at me with a strange look. It was shock, surprise, and utter joy. She was blushing and she smiled back. I handed the bag over to her and she grabbed it.

" oh thank you so much mr. Crimson." She said. I guess she knows me. " I wasn't aware we had a famous hero in town today." She said.

" I'm just passing through." I said smiling.

" we'll you have my gratitude... If you hadn't stopped that robber, who knows what he would have done with me." She said. She was acting a bit clingy and seemed drowned in love as she was blushing more and batting her eyelashes at me. She was acting like any other kind of fan would.

" it was no problem... Stay safe now." I said before rocketing back into the air. As I flew up she smiled and waved from below until I was out of sight. Once I was comfortably back in the air I stopped and just hovered for a bit. I flew over to a cloud and sat down on it. I let out a deep sigh and took a few large breaths. That was fun, but that mare was all over me... I need to watch out for that. Although I can't help worry that being as big as I am, I probably just broke that muggers spine when I landed on him... Oh well.

I sat over by the edge of the cloud in a perch like position like most ponies sit. I had my flank resting on the ground but stood up tall holding my upper half up with my front hooves. I looked down over the small town and the more I looked the more It reminded me of ponyville. I used my hearing to focus in on the town and see if there was any trouble I could help with. As I listened I couldn't help but overhear that the town was buzzing about my arrival. I keep forgetting about how famous I am, it's almost scary. Then again if you think about it there's no reason I shouldn't be as renown as I am... I'm not bragging but I think I deserve the title I have.

I did single out a hoof full of crimson followers walking around town looking like they were searching for trouble, but I think that they were looking for me. I sat on the cloud and looked around. My eyes rested on the clock tower. It had only been half an hour since I last looked at it. It wasn't even 11 yet. i let out a sigh of boredom and laid down on the cloud with my head close to the edge. i started looking off into the distance and just started thinking.

i started thinking about why i always get into these kinds of situations. then i thought that it was because of who i am. then i thought that it was just the universe trying to keep me entertained. after all i do somewhat enjoy my adventures, and they're the only things i have to keep me occupied and busy. and come to think about it, i'm going to be in for a real challenge with this boredom thing while also being immortal... i'm going to be bored for a long time. i think i'm starting to understand how celestia feels. though i'm not nearly at her point... i've got a family and friends that are always with me. she has friends and family, but they live away from her and her friends don't really live close by either.

she just stays up there in that castle every day and sits on her throne doing work. i think when the time comes i'll have to see her about how she controls her boredom. and after i got over the future boredom issue i soon came to realization of a much greater issue... my new immortal life is going to be so depressing. in like 60 years or so when my friends and dash are all old and feeble i'm still going to be young and agile. i'm literally going to watch everyone i love die before my eyes. even my kids are going to die before me... then their kids, and theirs. that's going to be depressing. i'm certain that after so much death i'm going to snap and become an emotionless husk of a pony.

i bet it would be cool for my future generation. bring you're father to work day... nah fuck that, i'm going to bring my immortal great great grandfather over to tell everypony about how much ass i kick every day. i started to chuckle lightly at the joke. i'm going to have to find some way to travel across the plains of nirvana just to see my friends and family. i'm sure i'll find a way, and if i don't... i'll make a way. in light of that thought i started to perk up and smile a bit knowing that there was a real chance i could keep on visiting my friends and family in heaven forever.

seeing as i was starting to get tired and i was close to drifting off to sleep i lifted myself up and laid down with my head up like a dog would lay down. head up and hooves under me. i let out a big yawn and cracked my neck back and forth. i looked over at the clock tower off in the distance and it was close to twelve. it had been a while since i laid down. i have to admit it was a pretty good nap, and it did bring some things to light in my mind. i reached my back hoof up and scratched myself behind the ear like a dog and it felt pretty good. when i put my hoof back down my stomach growled at me... i guess i'm hungry.

i don't really feel hungry, but if my stomach tells me i'm hungry then who am i to question my own stomach. i stretched my wings out and got ready to fly. before i took off i looked down at the town searching for a good place to eat. i singled out a small pub that looked pretty good. it wasn't some kind of huge fancy restaurant with exotic cuisine. just a small local pub and bar. i don't mind that, after all small local stores usually have the best food. and by that i mean the greasiest and most unhealthy food you could find in the town. though with the pony diet i don't think there's going to be much grease... but still... i bet the food there is good.

also before i took off i started to think about my interactions i would have while i'm down there. no doubt i'll attract a crowd and probably the crimson order. i'm sure the mare there will try and offer me free food or something. there will most likely be a lot of kissing up and boot licking. i think the best of my qualities is that i don't let the fame really get to my head. it sometimes goes there, but not for long. i let out a small sigh and shrugged. i took off and slowly flew over to the pub.

i flapped my wings which seemed to leave behind small sparkling white lights that fell a few feet like snow and disappeared. i flew over and some of the ponies on the ground had noticed me already and looked up smiling. i get close to the ground and dodged a few houses before i came close to the pub on the corner. i slowed down and gently touched down on the ground. i folded my wings up by my side and walked over to the pub. i walked into the pub and looked around. it looked like an old generic pub they used to show on really old TV shows.

back on earth technology might have skyrocketed and new things were being created, but TV, music media, and games didn't change much. there were reality shows, sitcoms, cartoons, and all that. movies were made like they always are. and music never changes, rock and roll, pop, metal, jazz, blues, all still the same. walking into this pub was like a blast from the past. i slowly walked over to one of the tables and unfortunately there was no way i would fit in one of the booths. i walked over to the bar counter which still didn't do much good. i managed to sit on a chair but it was an awkward and tight fit. i looked over to see the waitress in her uniform walk over with a pencil and paper and she smiled at me.

"hello sir..." she said in a perky and upright voice. "what can i get you today." she seemed to be the only pony who was level headed about meeting me. the other ponies in the pub looked over at me with shock and surprise. they all smiled at me. they tried not to look and acted like they were just eating and talking with friends but i noticed how they would often glance over at me. before i could answer the waitress there was a bright flash. thinking it was some kind of magic i looked over but it was just somepony with a camera... great, now i've got a paparazzi on my tail.

"uhm... i'll just get a daffodil sandwich and a root beer." i said.

"will that be all?" she asked. again there was another flash as the pony with the camera took another picture. it didn't bother me too much since my eyes didn't need to adjust to the light but it was still oddly noticeable. the waitress just blinked a few times after the flash and lost her smile, but once her eyes adjusted she was good and smiled again.

"yeah... thank you." i said with a smile.

"no problem..." she said. "your food will be done and out in a few minutes mister crimson." she said. i guess she does know who i am. i watched her walk away and there was another flash, followed by another. i looked over to see even more ponies with camera's, at least six of them. and outside of the pub door there was , just as i thought, a crowd of ponies. i think i know how fluttershy felt when photo finish made her a famous model. i remember that adventure. she hid at my house for almost a week ,i didn't mind her staying, she was a very humble guest. then again that is something i would expect from a pony like fluttershy.

i sat there and waited for my food and the paparazzi kept snapping photo's. what is wrong with them, i have my back turned and i haven't moved. i guess they feel like they need at least 7 photos of me sitting like this before they can sleep tonight. at least nopony was directly bothering me, but i wouldn't hold my breath. so i sat there and thought about some of the crazy adventures i used to have before all of this. or the time rarity got kidnapped by diamond dogs... that was a crazy adventure. it took me an hour to finally scrub all the dirt out of my coat and mane.

it wasn't long until the waitress came back over and placed a plate with a large sandwich on it and a glass of root beer. she still had the same smile on her face like before. i snapped out of my trance and pulled myself back to consciousness. the paparazzi had grown larger since then and there were camera's at every angle now. it was a bit awkward sitting here like this and watching these ponies just drool over me. the only pony who wasn't was the waitress who seemed to keep me from freaking out over the others.

"here's you're order mr. crimson." she said. "enjoy." with that she walked away to go check on the other ponies and take their orders. again my stomach growled at me but it wasn't very audible over the loud chattering of the crowd outside of the pub. even though they weren't cheering, yelling my name, or bombarding me with question they talked amongst themselves and that was still pretty loud on it's own. i grabbed the glass of ice cold root beer and brought it to my lips. i downed the whole thing, ice and all. i grabbed the sandwich and took a huge bite from it. with the size comparison between me and a regular pony this sandwich was much smaller and one bit was enough to take out at least half of it.

i didn't want to turn over to face the crowd but somehow i could see everything through my peripheral vision. i could somehow sense, and see everything behind me. i saw a few armored ponies tunnel through the crowd and walk into the pub. they all had badges from the crimson order. they didn't really need to look around to find me. i'm not just some other pony anymore. i'm the huge shiny giant with the flowing mane and brightly glowing armor... i kind of stick out. they wasted no time in walking over and kneeling behind me. i finished chewing the first half of my sandwich and swallowed it. i turned over and stood up before them.

"forgive us king crimson." the leader looking one of the group said. they had their weapons drawn and took a knee like knights before their king. i guess that would be how they see it. " we've come seeking you." he said.

"why do i need to forgive you." i said. i could feel them tense up. "you've done nothing wrong." i said making them relax in relief, they must have thought i was angry with them or something. "you haven't bothered or annoyed me, unlike the fifty or so ponies out there taking about 20 pictures of the back of my head... not even, the back of my hood." i said as i pointed out the hood i was wearing. i also still had my glowing metal mask on that hid my face, they couldn't even get my face.

"we have come seeking you for aid." said the knight. " you're presence here is a blessing to this town, and you have arrived just in time to help us, if you would." he said acting like he isn't asking to much.

"alright first cut the sir shit." i said. "my name is crimson... not sir... and get off the floor, stand up like the stallions you are." i said not sparing any pleasantries and being upright with them. they all seemed confused and stood up on all fours. "now what is it you need help with?" i asked.

"there is a camp of bandits just outside of the town..." he said. "we had gone to drive them out before but they are stronger than we thought... and we don't have enough warriors." he said. "we would ask that you help us be rid of the bandits."

"have they bothered anypony?" i asked making sure that it isn't just some random encampment.

"they have been here for three months and have raided and harassed the town many times..." he said.

"how far is the camp?" i asked. "i have a train to catch at four." they seemed to be confused by my casual behavior and it seemed awkward to them that i'm being to up front about this. to think of it, these people look at me as some kind of god, king or something. even though i am a god now, they don't know this. it would be like if god talked to moses and was all like, "yo moses... wassup dude... can you do me a solid and go free the jews from pharaoh... cool thanks."... that shouldn't happen. so you can probably understand how they must feel now.

"uhm... it's only a few minutes into the forest just south of here." he said. i looked at him and the other followers of the crimson order. they seemed to keep their heads down almost like punished children but did it out of a false sense of respect towards me. i just stared at them for a second and let some tension build up.

"alright..." i said. "i'll help."

"thank you si... i mean, crimson." said the leader. "thank you crimson blast... please follow us we'll take you to the camp." they turned and started walking out of the pub. i quickly ate up the rest of my sandwich and dropped ten or so bits on the counter and followed them. we left the pub and walked out onto the streets. we pushed through the crowd. or i should say they pushed through the crowd. i just phased right through all the ponies like a ghost which i thought was pretty cool, that could really come in handy.

once we were clear of the crowd we walked calmly down the street and past the other buildings, shops, and ponies. wo sort of traveled in a cluster with no real formation. i stayed behind them but they spread out everywhere and we silently walked down the street. i looked around at the smiling ponies who could tell that we were off to go do something heroic and brave. and before i knew it we were at the south edge of the town and on the road out of town and into the dead winter forest. i followed them down the trail.

i kept behind them quietly looking around trying to see if i could spot the camp from here without any special aid but it was no use. there wasn't any noise and we all quietly and awkwardly marched down the dirt road. eventually i got a bit distracted but i got pulled back when i could see a few large tents and ponies in armor just through the dead tree's. it wasn't easy and i had to adjust my eyesight to zoom in on them. and just up ahead the road was a small path carved into the winter snow that cut through the tree's there wasn't anypony guarding the front so i guess we could just walk right in. we walked over to it and they gathered around the path and i soon stopped at it too.

"this is it crimson blast." said the leader gesturing to the path. "i'm sure you'll make quick work out of the bandits. i didn't intend on just blowing the whole place up in one fell swoop but i was hoping to just scare them away enough to never come back.

"alright i can handle this." i said. i turned to the side and started walking down the snowy path. i passed by a few trees and i could start to see the bandit camp more easily. soon i got in a straight away and the crimson followers were gone and out of sight and it was just me in front of the camp. the camp was just a series of large tents. they were placed all around with a huge fancy looking one in the middle towards the back. there was a large clearing in the middle were bandits were gathered around and they had a huge roaring fire going to keep the camp warm. i walked over and made my way to the camp.

i slowly and quietly walked to the front of the camp. they had large log posts up as a sort of fence and they were spiked at the top. not sure what good that does but it does look intimidating... to regular ponies. i walked past the wooden fence and into the camp. the camp was admirably large, i can see how the followers would have had trouble with this. as i kept walking into the center the bandits caught wind of me and just looked at me in confusion. but it didn't take them too long to figure out who i was and they drew their weapons and held them tight. archers pulled their arrows back in their bow and aimed for me. i just walked a bit forward and stood close by the campfire and stopped.

i looked around at all the bandit faces and armored ponies who glared at me with resentment, anger, and fear. there was much more fear then they would have liked to admit. they tried to hide it but i could smell it... they wreaked of fear and cowardice. soon enough the fire in front of me died down to just a pile of hot cinders. but it fired back up as a torrent of blue fire which caught my attention. the pillar of blue fire died down to reveal a large armored unicorn. he had white fur and his hair looked like the blue fire. the armor he wore took on the design of his alleged element and looked like it was metalized fire. he looked at me with his dark blue eyes.

"the mighty hero king, crimson blast." he said. " i was waiting for the day you would come find my camp on you're own." he had a dark and sadistic voice. like he would laugh at you're misery and find joy in the suffering of others.

" i demand that you and you're bandits leave this place and never come back." i said. "go and there will be no trouble... return... and perish." he looked at me and started laughing. i just looked back at him. his laughter was evil and sickening. it seemed to bring up the morale of the other bandits knowing that their leader is so confident in killing me.

"don't think for a second that i haven't prepared for this." he said. " i've had all of my bandits weapons enhanced so that you're magic cannot affect us... there is nothing you have now... and we have you surrounded." he said. that seems like a very unlikely plan... but he wasn't lying when he said their weapons were enhanced, i could sense the energy radiating off of all their weapons.

"so you think you have it all figured out huh?" i said looking at him and staying calm.

"i've got all the angles covered." he said. "with you dead i will be the greatest power in equestria... and all of the world." he started chuckling to himself again. i just sat there and remained un amused. "soon all will bow to the firehawk..." he said. firehawk huh... interesting nickname.

"since you've obviously prepared for this fight better than i have i'll let you make the first shot." i said. "go ahead..."

"i intended to anyway." he said smiling. he glared and me and i glared back. "archers... fire." he shouted out. soon a volley of arrows flew at me from every angle and hit me on every inch of my body. since my armor is made from my magic the arrows just passed right through, he wasn't lying. it hurt like a son of a bitch, i wanted to yell out but i couldn't. i looked like an arrow porcupine. soon the pain faded away and my body fell to the ground bleeding. except i was still standing and looking at my fallen body. i guess this was my soul out of my body. i looked around and nopony noticed i was standing, well because i was a soul... so this is what it's like to be dead.

i looked over at the firehawk and he was laughing his ass off. his bandits were cheering loudly and they began to celebrate. before i could watch them celebrate a black fog surrounded me and i couldn't see past it. soon the sound of the bandit camp quickly faded away and all was silent. i stood there and looked around and after a few more seconds of silence the fog started to quickly drift away. i looked around at my new surroundings and i was in purgatory now. this means i was definitely dead... but it's alright i can come back.

i looked around at the planes of purgatory and it was just like the combination of heaven and hell. there was no sky, only infinite blackness and disappointment. the ground was a weird sandy, but solid texture that was wavy and very hilly. the sand was a lightish grey that contrasted from the black sky. there were strange looking dead tree's every now and then and a few mountains and large hills here and there. i could see the occasional souls walking through. some human, and some were ponies. that seemed to be the only existing species except for a few other indescribable creatures that will remain anonymous.

this place is dead and desolate and is the perfect combination of heaven and hell. the souls here don't have to face the devastating fires of hell but they're torment is the knowledge that they have been denied salvation. forced to walk the planes of purgatory for numerous lifetimes before the gates of heaven save them... or the claws of hell claim them. there was a faint glow behind me and i looked over. i saw a small oval shaped mirror glowing behind me. i looked at it and instead of my reflection i saw the image of the bandit camp. i could see my dead and bleeding body.

the bandits were dancing, cheering, celebrating, and drinking booze. there were some that danced on my corpse. i couldn't hear anything but i could see what they were doing. they stopped dancing on me and they started pulling the arrows out of me. i was confused at first but then again i guess they want my body to be neat for when they present it to the world. i just watched and saw another faint light glowing below me. i looked down and instead of something being below me the light was coming from my chest.

there was a large golden yellow cross now glowing on my chest. i looked at it and seemed confused. i watched and the carving crack more into my skin and lines and paterns started slowly showing themselves from the golden cross on my chest. i didn't know what this was and it was frankly very confusing and strange. i just looked at it and stared at it for a while. but suddenly there was a strangely familiar voice next to me.

"first time dying huh?" said the voice. surprised i looked over to see the soul of a familiar figure. the soul was a human male with black hair and fair skin. he had black armor and an obsidian sword... it was martukus. i honestly never thought i would ever see this guy again. it was strangely relieving to see him. he had the same cross on his chest but his symbols were spread much more over his body. mostly on the right side of him. his didn't seem to inch forward as much but you could see mine slowly crawling around my body.

"holy shit... martukus." i said smiling.

"hey there crimson..." he said. "been a while."

"yeah i guess so... last time we met we didn't really get off so well." i said.

"i guess not..." he said. "oh, and congratulations on immortality... welcome to the club." he said. "you get used to it after a while."

"yeah thanks..." i said.

"and congratulations on becoming the new reigning god of balance... that's a pretty big title." he said.

"thanks again..." i said. "so uh... what's this." i asked pointing to the glowing cross on my chest.

"those are you're vitality marks..." he said. "when the glowing marks cover all of you're body that means you're ready to revive into you're new body... they spread at different speeds depending on how badly you died." he said. i looked down at my marks which were now slowly creeping past the my chest and up my neck and to the sides. "it also helps if you're body is good at rejuvenating... mines not too bad but i lost the entire left half of my body to some crushers... that's why my right side is glowing like this... it's all done healing but there's still my left side."

"wow that must have sucked." i said. "it must have hurt like a bitch too."

"not as much as you think." he said. "after a while you get used to it and the pain just seems to not be so bothering... it still hurt... but it wasn't agonizing... so yeah. how did you die?" he asked.

"oh.. i tried to take out a bandit camp... but they're arrows were enhanced or something and just passed through my armor like paper... pretty much i got hit with a solid 50 or so arrows all over my body." i said.

"ooh..." he said cringing. " well i can say that i've had my fair share of bad deaths." he said.

"yeah i'm sure i will too." i said looking at my marks. they were halfway across my side. "so what's with this mirror thing... and wheres yours?" i asked pointing to my mirror.

"it's a nice convenience so you can keep track of you're body..." he said. "mines here, it's just that we can only see our own, nobody elses... mines here, you just can't see it, and i can't see yours." he said.

"oh alright..." i said looking back at my mirror. saw the bandits were done pulling the arrows from my body and went back to dancing on it.

"not much to see on my end... just the right half of my body laying in a dark and desolate cave." he said.

"the bandits that killed me are dancing on my body." i said monotonically. he looked at me and gave me a strange look while i just stared into the mirror.

"these bandits sound like real assholes." he said.

"they are..." i said back. i looked at my carving again anxiously and saw they had only moved an inch from last time. "i hope this goes quickly..." i said. "i have a train to catch at four and my friends will kill me if they found out i died." i said.

"where you heading to?" asked martukus.

"i need to get to stallasia so i can use the transdimensional portal there or whatever, i need to get to the lair of shal- grahkar and get my wife back." i said. i expected a response but when there was none i looked over. i saw that martukus was giving me a strange look.

"you said a transdimensional vortex?" he said. "and shal-grahkar... as in the immortal devourer?"

"yeah... quite the story huh." i said.

"i didn't know there was a dimensional portal in stallasia... never bothered to look past this country..." he said.

"if you need the portal for something you're welcome to tag along with me and my friends." i said. "i know i might have screwed you over last time, so let me make it up."

"hmm..." he said looking at me. i looked back at him and almost on queue we both smiled. "alright... sounds good." he said. "but it might be awhile until i'm rejuvenated so it may be awhile until i join you... but i think it would be a good opportunity." he said.

"awesome... but uh... the only problem is that you're... well uh... you're kinda human." i said.

"i've been stuck in this dimension for a quarter of a million years... you don't think i've figured something out." he said. "don't worry... when i revive i'll come find you in private and we can talk." he said. "but right now you need to get going." he said pointing at me. i looked at my marks and saw the cross on my chest glow brightly. it shone right on the mirror and the mirror shattered and swirled into a glowing vortex which was visible to martukus too. i looked at it and smiled.

"so i just climb on in." i said.

"yep... but always remember to watch out for when you revive..." he said. "coming back to life isn't a very casual thing... there will be fireworks." he said smiling and gesturing to my glowing body. "but don't worry..." he said. "after a while you'll learn to control how you revive and make you're own awesome entrance... now get going." he said smiling. i smiled too and looked into the portal. i walked forward and it sort of sucked me in and pulled me through a vortex of light. and soon enough i was back to life, but that wasn't the end.

it seemed like my soul was falling from the sky and was high above the clouds. but soon i broke through the cloud layer and could see the camp and my body. i fell and fell and felt a great amount of energy welling up inside of me. i grew closer and closer to the ground until... impact. i hit the ground and re-entered my body. the ground shattered and broke underneath me. my body lunged down into a pit and spiked of earth shot up from the ground all over the camp and then some.

but that wasn't the end. soo my body burst with energy and i fired a huge beam of light into the air being swirled by a cyclone of black fire. i felt myself rising up from the pit and into the air. i was completely conscious now and rose up and floated like i was standing now. the beams of light cooled down and just grew into a small ring of light on the ground below me and it fired up spikes of light into the air. the fire cooled down too and did the same, it created a ring of black fire around the light that burned indefinitely. needless to say the camp was obliterated. every one of the bandits was dead except to the firehawk who shielded himself with his own magic. i used my magic to quickly fix the ground and level it out until it was back to normal.

he looked at me with fear and i looked at him showing new colors. my armor and aura were still the same bright glowing white. but the symbols and carvings on my body and my armor, including my eyes as well, was all black. soon the rings of black fire and light faded and i started taking steps towards him. he started backing up and looked at me with constant fear. he had an air of disbelief and uncertainty about him, as well as confusion and denial. to make a long story short... he didn't see that coming.

"no... we killed you... i saw you die... we danced on you're fucking corpse." he said growing angry now and surrounding himself with blue fire.

"and you're going to pay for that." i said glaring at him. "you obviously didn't have all the angles planned out."

"it doesn't matter." he said growling at me. he made a large spear rise up from the fire beside him and held it close with his magic. "i'll kill you myself." he said before charging at me. the poor fool is blinded my his denial... he'll get his. i stood there as he roared out as he charged at me with the spear by his side. i just stood there calmly and watched him as he grew closer and closer. soon enough he had grown close enough and was right in front of me.

before he could take another step i shot up a bed of light spikes from the ground and skewered him. he stopped dead in his tracks and the spiked rose him up off the ground a little bit. the spikes tore through his legs and arms and his chest. one of the spikes tor through his skull from the bottom of his chin. he was bleeding everywhere and the spikes were covered with blood and organs. except the spike running through his skull, that one was covered with blood and grey matter. i looked forward and the tip of his spear was less than an inch from my face. it was a rather interesting spear with a hollowed center tip so that it just looked like the flat outline of the spear. below that was a shimmering sapphire embedded in the stock then the rigid and bumpy shaft of the spear.

i grabbed the spear and pulled it from his cold dead hooves.. i held it and i could feel that this was the source of his blue fire. i could feel the energy in it as it coursed through the weapon and covered me in its power. i dropped the spikes and his body fell to the ground in a puddle of blood. as i looked about the spear i could see that as it connected to my magical energy it could also be used as a staff. i think i'll keep this for an occasion i already have planned out. i turned away from the bodies and the camp and walked away and out of the camp. i started walking down the snowy path to the road and i held the staff with my right wing and used it as a sort of walking stick... or walking staff.

soon after a few turns the road came into view and with it the crimson followers. by now i had stopped glowing glack and was just my regular glowing white self. my symbols faded and glowed white while my eyes stopped glowing all together. i reached up and pulled off my mask to have a better feel for the moment. as i approached the road on of the followers saw me and soon the others looked over too and smiled. i walked out onto the street and looked down at them. they smiled and did a little bow to me by just tilting their heads down.

"we knew you would take care of the bandits." said the leader. "but you took much longer than we expected you would."

"thats because i died..." i said plainly as if i expected them to not be surprised. unfortunately they were very surprised to hear that.

"you... you died... but you're right here." he said.

"yeah i know... i got better." i said. "now lets go..." i said reading my internal clock as it was about two now. "i still have a train to catch at four." i said turning around and walking back to town. they followed me into town and we walked down the road in silence. like the way in everything was quiet. but i soon stopped as we got to the small town and the noise of walking ponies and conversations filled the air.

I continued down the road as the crimson followers continued to follow me closely in a wide cluster taking up most of the street. I got the same reaction from all of the ponies we pass, like they didn't know what just happened. There was no doubt, however, that they definitely saw that huge blast I caused when I revived, and they probably associated it with me automatically. It wasn't much longer before we all stopped in the street and they gathered around me.

" thank you crimson..." Said the leader of the followers. " with the fire hawk now slain this town can breath easily."

" anytime..." I said smiling. They smiled too and did a little bow before turning and walking off down the street. I let out a sigh of relief. I know that they're on my side now but those guys can get really annoying. I just turned and started walking again down the road down to the train station. I walked by the townsfolk and the various shops and houses. Like usual I got excited and cheerful faces from everypony. It was a bit awkward being a bright shining symbol but at least no pony was really crowding around me. And it didn't take long for the paparazzi to find me again.

I just waved down the road and held the firehawks staff with my wing and used it as a kind of walking stick. It was too small for me even though I could easily resize it and use it. I'm not going to do that though, I have a better use for it. I kept walking down the street with a smug smile on my face which was clearly visible since I no longer was wearing my mask to hide the upper half of my face. The ponies seemed to like that so that now they could see my face... Despite the ugly black scar tearing across the side of my face and the deeply black fur shaped like a burn.

I looked over to the clock tower and it was half past two. Time really flies when you're dead I guess. When I got to the camp it must have been no more than a little after twelve. And I don't think I really spent much time in purgatory, felt just like a few minutes, half an hour at the most. Oh well, I didn't let the thought of it bother me so much as I kept walking. As long as I'm good to go and I can make the train I'll be fine. But I should probably steer clear of trouble to the best of my abilities.

I kept walking around and around scouting my way out back to the train station. Suddenly however I started to get a bit dizzy and my head began to throb. I rubbed my head and the dizziness faded into darkness, but I didn't faint. I just seemed to be in a plane of blackness. But it was more than that. Everything around me looked more... Static like. It was like TV static but it seemed to fill in and define the ponies and houses all around. My body kept walking forward and forward making new turns and taking different routes. It was like I was mindlessly making these turns. I felt like I needed to go forward and turn but I didn't want to at the same time.

It was only a few minutes before everything went completely black and I could still feel myself moving around. And only seconds after that did the blackness go away and I could see perfectly now. I was confused at first of where I was but it only took a second for a map to draw itself out in my head and I started heading back to the train station. I kept walking and as I looked around my eyes passed over the clock tower... 3: 48... how the fuck did that happen.

With time of the essence now I quickly spread my wings and launched into the air. I glided through the air for a little bit and spotted the train station. It flew over and saw my friends waiting at the station. Thank god the train didn't come yet. I flew over and landed next to them. My flight was so short it was like I had just leapt over to the station platform. I looked at my friends and smiled but they seemed a bit angry or so

" what took so long?" Asked Derek.

" was that huge blast in the distance an hour ago you?" Asked twilight.

" uhm... Well, yeah." I said.

" what happened sugarcube... You look a bit tired." Said applejack.

"You didn't do anything awesome without us did you." Said Nightflame. " did you?"

" uh well... Yeah... I did." I said.

" what the hell did you do now." Said mystee acting like twilight in a motherly concern sort of manner.

" wella group of crimson followers asked me to help them with a bandit camp outside of town. So I said yes and we got to the camp. I walked in and met their leader the firehawk. We traded some banter, and well... He killed me." I said. " but it's alright... I got better."

" so you died..." Said twilight. In an egotistical manner.

" we'll yeah... Not really a big deal... Only took me like half an hour to revive. Which is pretty good considering I was shot with something like 100 arrows." I said. " then I got better and wiped out the camp...oh here twilight." I said holding out the firehawk's staff to her. She looked at it surprisingly. " this was that firehawk's staff... I think you could use it."

" uhm... Well... Thanks." She said. She reached out and grabbed the staff and held it up with the pointed blade sticking high into the air. " but be more careful next time."

" yeah... You just died yesterday after all... Two in two days... Not good odds." Said black hoof.

" what... I let my enemies take the first shot..." I said. " and I didn't actually die yesterday... My brain just got scrambled a bit."

" you died yesterday too!" Said twilight surprisingly.

" oh yeah... You don't know about that." I said. " we'll I didn't die... Like I said, I just got my brain scrambled for a bit."

" seemed to me like you were pretty dead." Remarked Nightflame.

" if I had died you would have seen a huge explosion like the one from before... That huge blast you saw... Yeah. That was me coming back to life." I said.

We all stood there and talked. Well it was more like I was being shamed for dying so often. I don't think they see it my way... I'm immortal. Death is just a nuisance to me... Not a problem. But they scolded me anyway. I'm sure that in time they'll all lighten up and my recurring deaths will just become a passing thing. In fact the more I think about it I'm sure that me dying will soon become a frequent event. Though I will try not to die in any really horrible fashions as to avoid an extended stay in purgatory.

As we all talked out conversation was soon interrupted by a loud horn. It was the horn of the train as it was pulling into the station and slowing down to let on passengers. And right on time too... It was 4 o'clock on the dot. The train finally slowed down to a full stop and the doors opened. A few ponies got off then the train conductors got off and started requesting tickets. We lined up with me at the back and the others gave the conductor our tickets while the crew of the train started loading our newly marked crates of food and supplies into the cargo car.

It wasn't long until I presented my ticket to the conductor. He looked up at me with confusion and awe. I just looked at him and smiled as he punched my ticket and I moved to the train. As I walked to the train I stopped and froze at the sudden realization of something very important... There's no way in hell I can fit through these doors. Oh well, not really a problem, I'm just shocked I didn't think of this obvious fact earlier. I used my powers to quickly shrink down to a small height but still keeping a tall figure to assert power and dominance. I walked through the train doors with ease and followed my friends to a new cart.

We all walked down a few carts into a bedroll cart. There were bunk beds lining the walls and we could all easily fit in these carts and beds. We started unpacking out personal items and claimed our beds. I took the top bed right above Derek with twilight right across the car from me on the top and applejack down on the bottom bed across from Derek. Before we did anything the trains horn sounded out again and the train jerked forward signaling its departure.

Time to get this thing going...

-Authors Note: woo... crimsons first experience with death... woohoo... well, as an immortal that is. and i think we all know that familiar guy with the black armor and wings who was with crimson in purgatory... yeah its martukus. he will be joining us in this quest once he's done being dead n' stuff. but yeah... this chapter came out pretty well, and it's the biggest one of the story so far. not the biggest chapter ive written... just the biggest one of the story. over 11,000 words long. i was going to go and buy my new computer with my victory money today and then beat the crap out of my laptop with a baseball bat... but i woke up this morning feeling like shit and i'm just not up to it... but i will do that by the end of vacation. so yeah guys, stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	24. Chapter 24: Some Things Just Don't Die

so along the tracks we went. we rode the train for three days and today was the fourth. it was taking a while but i can't argue since it's much faster than us walking. the train raid is incredibly boring and i often just sleep in my bed even though i'm not tired. i always catch myself thinking about celestia whenever i keep getting distracted and stare off into space. i also continued to wonder what happened to me that one day in that small town. i seemed to just blank out and lose control of my body. i hasn't happened again since then and that makes me wonder even more what it was.

the usual day of living on the train going to manehattan was usually very boring for me. black hoof did have a deck of cards with him which we would play poker with... i always won. after having beaten everypony i decided i was too good and stopped playing a day ago. whenever we got hungry on the trip we would go to the concessions cart which was only three carts ahead of us. the food here wasn't so bad and i didn't mind eating it, even though i didn't eat often. my diet seems to have restricted itself to only one meal a day. it is a bit of a larger meal than most ponies but i don't mind. i haven't noticed any difference in weight or hunger. i just feel the same, same thing with sleep.

i didn't sleep at all last night. i stayed up to see the other fall asleep and then wake up after a while when the sun came up. i just stared out the window next to my bunk and watched all the world pass by me. it put me in some sort of trance and it seemed to help make time go by faster. i couldn't help think about my journey and hope that rainbow dash was alright. and like i said before, celestia continued to enter my thoughts and almost seemed to taunt me. she herself didn't enter my thoughts but her memory did. thoughts of rainbow dash also constantly flooded my head. i always had mixed emotions during that night.

so it was just past noon on the fourth day of riding on this train and i was just laying in my bed, head resting on my hooves, one hoof over the other, and i stared out the window at the passing farmland a few barns, or herds of cattle every now and then. the others had gone to the catering cart to go eat lunch and i stayed behind in the cabin. it had been a little more than 24 hours since i had last eaten, and i felt no need to. i usually just ate because i could and not because i need to. i would just be with my friends and we would be in the dinning cart so they put food out in front of us and i ate it. i never seem to get hungry but i don't fill up either. i'm pretty sure i could eat tons of food... literal tons, of food. but i'm not going to do that because i don't need to.

my stomach would growl at me every couple of hours and i would often ignore it. it usually just growls once and stops then growls again maybe like 4 or 5 hours later. if it keeps growling consistently then i would eat a little bit of food to shut it up. so i laid there in the box car bunk staring out the window at the passing farms. before the others left to go eat the conductor came on the loudspeaker and announced that we would be arriving at manehattan in two hours. that brought some excitement to me as i knew we would be getting off the train, but that excitement was quickly washed over with more boredom, but it wasn't gone.

i kept looking out the window and stared at the sky and the sun. it was almost mesmerizing to look at, it put me in some kind of trance. though after a few more minutes i decided to pull myself out of the trance when i noticed something strange. as the farms passed by and the barns and cattle the world seemed to grow darker and darker. until outside there was nothing but pure darkness. it was probably my mind playing tricks on me again. i just ignored it and got off the bed and walked around. i thought it was my mind playing tricks on me... until i heard a mare scream in the next cart. her scream caused me to fly out into action as part of a reflex.

i didn't even bother with the cart doors and just phased right through it like a ghost. i got into the next cart to see black shadow like tentacles breaking through the windows and grabbing the ponies on board. i looked around in awe but didn't act slowly after. i quickly fired off blasts of light destroying the darkness but there was just more and more running through the cart. this definitely wasn't my mind playing tricks on me. my attacks weren't enough to keep them at bay however since more just seemed to slip in through the windows... however i did diverge all there attention to me instead of the other ponies.

they attacked me and went right for me. the tentacles of darkness were much like my own so i summoned up some of mine and protected myself with tentacles of light. i managed to repel most of the attack but some still slipped by and got me. it didn't hurt much and i quickly cut those tentacles away. i let out a fierce shout and soon the whole cabin was filled with blinding light. there seemed to be an evil sort of shriek and when the light faded all darkness was gone... well for this cart anyway. i soon teleported quickly to the other cart and the flash of light from my teleportation spell caught the attention of this shadow monster.

i need to keep the train safe... so. i started glowing brightly and it seemed to burn the shadows away. i started running through the carts filling them with light and passing through one cart after another. soon i got to the concessions cart were my friends were fighting the shadows too at their own will... but it wasn't looking good for them. i quickly ram through yelling and burned all the shadows out of the room. without thinking i rammed through the side of the cart and out of the train. i spread my wings and started flying by the side of the train now. there was some kind of black fog following the train.

i fired of a few small beams of light and they cut right through the fog and it seemed to shout. i watched as the train slowly started to slip out of the fog. until it was completely out of it. the train kept going to manehattan while me and the black fog kept still in the middle of a field. it seemed to rise up and take a blob like form. soon two gleams of red shot up from inside the fog and seemed to take the place of eyes. then a red tear in the fog made a mouth. then it seemed to take a greater shape.

now it was forming a tail, and legs... even wings. soon it took the form of a large dragon. it seemed to be completely made of smoke and darkness and only was defined by red glowing cracks coursing through its body. with a mighty gust of wind it flapped its large wings and took flight quickly, now coming after me. i turned tail and flew away as it chased me through the fields. i looked back at it and it opened it's gaping maw of a mouth. i could see darkness and fire combine within its throat and a jet of black smoke and fire shot from it's mouth and engulfed me. i could feel it start to burn so i shot straight up into the air and out of its torrent of fire and darkness... oh, how suddenly the mood can change.

i flew right up and the dragon seemed to follow me trailing darkness and smoke behind it. to me this thing was huge and to it i was the size of a kitten. i kept flying up and up into the sky as the beast chased me. i looked back at it and saw it was getting close now... and it was ready to spew more fire at me, can't let that happen. i quickly turned and stopped as the beast grew ever more closer to me. it opened it's mouth to eat me alive when i shouted and fired a bright beam of blinding light right into the throat of the beast. it let out a cry of pain and soon the black smoke seemed to burst and spread.

the beast was no doubt dead. i looked at the large cloud of black smoke it left behind and smiled. i smiled because it was about time that i did something interesting and also i smiled at myself. that was without a doubt no ordinary dragon and was most likely some sort of demon or or something. it was unquestionably powerful and i had just easily destroyed it. so yes, i smiled, at the excitement and at the realization of my own power. but that smile quickly started to fade as the fog below me glowed with red fire and started to pull itself together and thicken. i watched and to my dismay the beast soon rose from the ash like darkness and lunged at me with it's gaping maw wide open to engulf me.

instead of closing its jaw down on me and eating me it instead fired up a torrent of fire which swirled around me and burnt like the fires of hell themselves. i let out a cry of pain as the flames surrounded me and soon started to burn away at my skin and feathers. i let out a deep shout as i radiated with blue energy now. a burst of cold and snow. spikes of ice fired from all directions and pierced the great beast as well as cooled my burns and my feathers on my wings seemed to grow back instantly. but i was still in much pain and damaged greatly.

i quickly flew backwards away from the dragon and as i cleared from the cold and black smoke near its mouth i could see now that the beast was no more closer to defeat than it was before. everything i tried only seemed to make it angrier instead of hurt it. i once again turned tail and flew away as the beast chased me. the beast let out a spiteful roar and heat and cinders flew from its mouth. the roar echoed through the countryside and it seemed to call black clouds over the top. they swirled in from everywhere and seemed to blacken out the sky. i watched and the beast seemed to grow stronger in the darkness.

i flew around and the beast chased me. i fire of blasts of light and energy every chance i got. the beast would roar every time it was hurt but seemed to take no physical damage and just kept flying right at me. it would fire blasts of smoke and fire from its maw whenever it got close and i would often get caught in them for a few seconds before flying out of the fire. we both flew down close to the ground and skimmed the surface of the grass. i shot off spikes of light from the ground. the they cut through the dragon like a knife through butter and the dragon seemed injured. it even let out a roar of pain.

it crashed to the ground as i flew away and like before burst into a cloud of darkness. but also like before the darkness roared with fire and energy and it thickened. then the beast emerged from the black fog right after me and spewing fire which flickered right up against me but didn't consume me. there was no killing this thing. but that doesn't mean i can't try. i kept flying and flying as i soon started to move upward towards the sky. and i noticed that the black clouds soon began lighting up and thundering. and soon... there was rain. a light peck against my face soon turned into a violent downpour. it was dark, the sun was being shunned by the clouds and the rain cut like knives on my burnt hide. i could only keep track of the beast through its red glowing spines and eyes, its beaming eyes and fiery wings also helped.

soon the thundering in the clouds turned to flashes and bolts of lightning that tore through the sky only to light it up for a second. i kept flying and shooting large blasts of light at the beast. but there was no hope for any of it to work. i kept flying up and up trying to keep the beast away from any actual ponies or the city itself for that matter. so i flew up knowing nopony would be up there. soon we were at the top of the sky right below the clouds. but i can't cut through these clouds. they would easily kill i flew around and the great dragon rose up to my level and released another torent of flames.

it chased and chased me and no matter how hard i tried to destroy it nothing would work. so i kept flying weaving through the air but there was no hope of outflying or even losing this dragon in the wide open sky. so all i could do was fly and fly. there was a large flash followed by a deafening boom. and i felt pain wash over every inch and piece of my body. i had been struck by lightning and i could feel the electricity surge through me and paralyzed me. i was, as the term comes to meaning, shocked by this, both emotionally and physically. i soon slowed down and i couldn't move and sure enough i began to plummet to the ground. the dragon however didn't give up.

it flew right after me and opened its gaping maw once more. but instead of eating me or covering me in fire it seemed to break apart back into fog and cover me as i fell. and so i fell with the dragons darkness all around me. it seeped into my body and penetrated my soul. it ripped me apart and tore me up from the inside. i wanted to yell out in pain but i was far beyond that point. how i was still conscious was a mystery. and soon and to my surprise i saw a figure in the darkness. not the dragon itself, but something much worse. it was that shadow demon with the white glowing eyes... shal-grahkan. that would explain things much more clearly now. i just looked at him with the expressions of fear and shock frozen over my face. but he looked back at me and smiled.

and soon enough we hit the ground. well, i hit the ground he was gone and the drakness that had tore me apart left me with one final blast of fire and darkness that burned me and caused me more pain before just becoming a cloud of regular smoke. the rain hit my face like needles and i laid there in a crater with only pain and suffering to keep me company. and i just laid there, and laid there. still somehow alive but i know that would not last for long. and almost as a mockery to the end of my battle the black clouds up above equestria seemed to fade and light shone through, reminding me that it was infact day.

but soon my own darkness faded in as my eyes began to close and i fell to sleep. i sat there in darkness still completely aware and in pain. i was not yet dead however since i had not been sent to purgatory just yet. i was still alive for what it was worth. soon a sound distracted me from my other feeling s and the pain seemed to subside for only a second to make out a few mumbles and familiar voices that grew closer and closer. i could feel myself being pulled out of the darkness and back to reality to see what would happen now. and i opened my eyes.

"i think he's over this way." said a familiar voice. it was nightflame.

"can you see him?" asked another familiar voice... black hoof. and soon those voices became picture as i could see my friends at the top of the crater where i lay, they could not see me through the smoke but i could see them just fine. black hoof was carrying applejack and mystee while nightflame carried ezekiel on his back. and soon twilight and thunder rush appeared in a flash at the tope of the crater. they all set down and stood there. i looked at them and wanted to call out but i couldn't bring myself to do so. i couldn't even bring myself to look down at the moment to see how badly i was hurt. i couldn't tell whether or not i could feel my hooves or ;egs to see if they weren't broken or if my spine had snapped, i could only feel pain.

"i think he's down there." said twilight.

"i can't see past the smoke." said mystee. "i hope he's alright."

"i'm sure he's fine..." said thunder. "afterall he is immortal. he probably just blacked out or something, that was quite a fight as far as i could see."

"that was ridiculous, are you kidding me?" said ezekiel. "where the hell did that thing even come from."

"ahm gettin' tired a waitin'..." said applejack, "can't y'all cast a spell or somethin' to clear the smoke and see if ee's okay."

"i can try to conjure up some kind of wind." said twilight.

"or me and nightflame can just blow the smoke away." said black hoof.

"that sounds like a better idea." said twilight. so black hoof and nightflame got to it and flew up into the air and started flapping their wings to start blowing the smoke away. and luckily it started working as the smoke began leaving and thinning out and soon enough it was gone. there was still a bit left behind in the crater that covered my body. they soon started sliding down the side of the crater and black hoof and nightflame quickly swooped down. they used their wings to fan away the rest of the smoke and when it was gone they got a clear view of me. i just looked up at the sky in pain as they all looked at me with horrified faces.

"oh god no..." said mystee looking away looking rather green. that can't be good. i used what energy i had left to turn a bit to asses the damage... and there was much damage.

first of all i was now in pieces. the lower half of my body was severed off and my organs and intestines spilled out onto the ground along with gallons of my own blood. my wings were clipped and almost broken off and my right hoof was severed off. on top of this i was covered with huge gashed and chunks of my body that were torn open or ripped off. i had the feeling earlier that i couldn't feel my legs anymore and this might be why. at the end of my torso there was a length of my spine still sticking out and standing out against the organs and blood. applejack turned and threw up into her hat.

"oh god crimson no..." said derek. "c'mon buddy, say something." he said trotting over and walking past my blood which the others were afraid to walk over in and knelt beside me and propped my head up. "damnit crimson say something." i managed to gather more strength in the light of my friends.

"i..." i stopped to spit up a bit of blood before continuing. "i would say i can't feel my legs *cough* *hack*... but that's kinda obvious isn't it."

"god dammit crimson you son of a bitch." said derek. not in a concerned or hateful kind of way. but more of a friendly disappointment. there's no hiding the fact that this isn't going to keep me down. i soon saw as my other friends soon came over to my body.

"crimson... oh god are you alright." asked twilight. i just smiled at her with a bloody smile.

"i'll be fine." i said. "well not right now... i'm probably going to be dead for a little while... but i'll be back." i said lifting my left hoof up to her cheek and making her smile.

"what are we supposed to do without you?" she asked.

"yeah... you are the leader of the group." said black hoof walking over with the others. they made sure to steer clear of any organs or body parts lying around.

"i'll be back... there should be a map in my bags... just take it and use it." i said.

"you want us to keep going then." asked mystee.

"please... keep going, yes." i said. " don't stop just because of me... promise me you'll keep going and try to help dash." i said. "take my crown too... so i can watch over you." i said grabbing my crown and handing it to twilight who grabbed it and smiled.

"alright... we will." said twilight. there were no tears or crying mainly since i wasn't really dead. they all knew i would be back soon enough and we could keep going. i could slowly feel all feeling start to subside even the pain. i couldn't force myself to speak anymore and i was starting to fade away.

"hey crimson." said thunder. i shifted my eyes over to him. "i'll see you later." he said smiling. i just smiled back as long as i could before the muscles in my face died and so did i. my whole body fell limp and soon i was in darkness again. it was a comforting darkness, like it was home. i fell down into the darkness and i could feel my soul leaving my body and heading off into purgatory to wait on my new body to be built from the old one. i wasn't sad though. i wasn't even dead.

this wasn't death... merely just a setback.

-Authors Note: twist twist twist twist twist... i had fun writing this chapter. some good ol' fashioned aerial combat if i do say so myself. so yeah crimsons dead now... or at least as dead as he'll get. he'll be back though... he cant die... he's immortal. so after a death like this i would imagine it would take a while for him to fully revive. so yeah that happened. and sorry for not posting yesterday... i was really feeling like shit and i couldn't even leave my bed. and for some reason of which i cannot explain i cannot post new chapters from my Ipad. i was able to read and reply to you're PM's and stuff but it wouldn't let me post chapters. so yeah sorry guys... i'm feeling much better today as you can see... i was able to make it to my computer without grappling over in intense chest pain.

so i hope that you guys who are in school are enjoying the vacation... i sure as hell know i am. i haven't really done much but it is nice to just lay back and just relax. ive been watching movies non stop since vacation. when i wasn't watching movies i've been writing this story. and also guys make sure you send me ideas and OC's... especially idea's. where going to different dimensions so they can litteraly be anything guys... i can tell you that one dimension is a dream world... so that litteraly gives you infinite possibilities. so stay safe, stay sober... and stay shady.-End of Note-


	25. Chapter 25: Supernatural

**-WARNING-**

**the following chapter contains minor graphic content of sexual nature. if you do not wish to see such things immediately pull a large black plastic bag over your head... if not continue.**

**-You Have Been Warned-**

soon the darkness that had comfortably surrounded me subsided to reveal the great plains of purgatory. i looked around and it was a very familiar sight, though i could tell i wasn't in the same place as last time when i died. the scenery was a bit different. i looked around and hoped that by some odd chance as before i would find martukus to keep me company, but no luck. as i looked around it wasn't too long before i saw the mirror behind me. i looked into it and saw my friends circled around my body.

soon though my body started to glow brightly until it was merely a single bright light. so bright, in fact, that my friends had to cover their eyes and look off so they don't hurt their eyes. my corpse glowed brightly and soon it broke apart into little particles of light that were swept away in the wind and carried off to the sky. and soon my body was gone, just a large blood stain inside of a crater. they looked back and watched the light pieces fly away in the wind and they all smiled. it made me smile to knowing they have such high hopes for me. they soon started talking about something and left. i wish i could hear sound through this thing so i knew what they were saying. but since twilight has my crown i seemed to follow her.

"back again huh..." said a familiar voice which caused my ears to perk up. "that was fast... though it was an unfair fight." i turned to see martukus standing there with his arms crossed and he was smiling. his smile spread to me and i smiled as well. i noticed that he was almost completely covered in the light symbols on his body, meaning he would revive soon.

"thank god you're here... i would have gotten bored out of my mind." i said smiling.

"well unfortunately for you i won't be here for much longer." he said turning around and showing off his markings. "i've maybe got another few hours before i revive... but you might be here for a while."

"great... that'll be fun." i said groaning in frustration and drawing my eyes away. i let out a sigh and slowly relaxed. "well... i can't argue... at least i'm not dead."

"who knows... you are a god after all." said martukus. " you might find a way out of here for a while and go back sooner... it has been done before."

"you mean there's another way out?" i asked perking up in excitement at this news.

"i once knew a demi-god who wasn't confined to the planes of purgatory after death... he was able to walk out into the real world through his mirror and walk around as a spirit... he interacted with the other spirits trapped in the real world and when he was ready his new body came to him... it was rather convenient... i myself haven't been able to do it... but you might." he said smiling.

"you really think so huh..." i said looking over to my mirror. "so what are you going to do when you are revived." i asked.

"i'm going to finish what i started... then i'll do you a favor and watch over you're friends while you're gone." he said. i smiled at him.

"that would mean a lot to me, thank you." i said. before he could respond he started glowing brightly and viciously.

"looks like i'm going sooner than i thought..." he said as he became a solid beacon of glowing light now. "i'll see you-" was all he could say before there was a large blast and in an explosion of light he was gone from the realm of purgatory, leaving me here by myself. i just let out another deep sigh and looked back at my mirror.

"great..." i said to myself looking at the mirror. "he said something about getting through you..." i said to the mirror looking as my friends walked into town and headed for the train station. i could see they were talking but i couldn't hear them. so i guess while i'm here that should be my goal... trying to get out and into the world of the living... as a ghost, i guess. i'm not sure how to do this... but i'm sure i can figure something out. after all, i've got all the time in the world now to figure this out. and the marks on my body just recently showed up, as i've noticed.

a faint glow emanated from my chest and the same cross stitched itself across my upper abdomen towards my neck. unlike before where i could see the lines slowly creeping across my body inch by inch i couldn't see anything moving now. i just looked at the marks and sighed. i turned my attention to the world around me, the world of purgatory. i could see souls off in the distance walking around without purpose, some with blank faces, some were crying, and others were... well they looked like being alone in this place has made them turn crazy.

i hope i don't end up like them and go crazy from loneliness. i hope i can control my depression like celestia has learned to... i wish she was here right now. i wish i didn't even have to go on this fucking quest in the first place. i wish the world would just leave me alone for a while... just let me relax and be with my family. but i guess that is too much to ask for... because now i'm dead. this is the second time in a week that i've died... seriously. i don't just wish, but sometimes i wonder. sometimes i wonder what my life would be like if i chose a different path. what if i never became a marine, or if i never walked through the dream arch... or if i never even bought that cursed guitar from that vendor one day... if i had to choose a turning point of my life... it would be that. all of this is just more power... nothing has really changed.

thoughts kept running through my head rapidly but i made them stop with a few deep breaths as i clamored for concentration. and soon i found my peace of mind, for now. i looked at the mirror in front of me and concentrated. i backed up a few feet and the mirror seemed to stay put. i licked my lips in certainty as i could almost taste the fresh air. i started running. i quickly dashed over to the small oval shaped floating mirror and leaped up into the air diving right at it. i flew over and hit the mirror like an iron wall and broke my face on impact. i fell to the ground and clutched my face in pain as the mirror floated there mocking my crude attempt with it's silence and stillness.

"oh god dammit... how does that happen... i'm dead." i said wondering how i can feel pain and even break my face like that. "damn that hurt." i said writhing on the ground.

"it was a noble attempt." said a strange but oddly alluring male voice from behind me. i let my head lay back and i looked back at the upside down figure standing behind me. the being behind me was a large male human with red, orange and yellow robes and a fire staff. he also had fire like hair that flickered and sparked like fire itself. i know this person... this is the fire god. what the hell is he doing here.

"fire?..." i said not knowing his real name. "what are you doing here."

"first of all my name is pyrius." he said as i rolled over on my stomach to get an upright look at him. "and i'm here because me and water had another fight again... that smug bitch." he said in a conceding tone, as if water herself could hear him. i stood up and dusted myself off.

"so she kicked your ass." i said.

"not entirely..." he said talking with more pride in his tone of voice. "she's in here somewhere too." he said looking around as if he expected to see her. "anyway... i know what you were trying to do... escape to the realm of the living."

"do you know how?" i asked excitedly as i could maybe get some professional help.

"this is weird for me seeing as how you're easily a greater being than me... but you are new to this stuff after all... i can show you... and i'm sure this stuff will seep into you're head after a year or so..." he said. i smiled and my ears perked up in excitement.

"great... so how do i get out?" i asked.

" not sure why you would want to get out... not very different... but just look through the mirror and teleport to whatever is still binding you to the living world... shouldn't be too hard if you're as powerful as i would hope you are." i was thoroughly disappointed with the simplicity of this task.

"thats it... no catch or twist or something." i said looking at him.

"well if you don't stay completely concentrated you're soul will fragment and you'll lose a lot of you're memories between the two worlds... and while you're a ghost you can't use you're abilities as strongly as you can if at all, lets see. nobody can hear, see, or feel you... you're basically going to be a ghost haunting you're friends... you might be able to conjure up some kind of subtle influence here and there... but not much."

"alright... that sounds more challenging... i think i can do this." i said.

"alright then... glad i could help." he said. "now i gotta go find water and apologize to her before she decides to drown my whole kingdom when she's revived." he looked off into the distance for a second then back at me. "well bye." he said quickly before vanishing in a cylinder of flames and fire. he was gone now... and i was alone again. easy come easy go... one of the chapters of the book that is my fucking life. i let out another deep sigh. i turned over to the mirror and looked at it. i looked closely at my friends who were now on the train. it was night already, that was fast. i'm almost certain that time speeds up when i'm looking away from this mirror.

"alright crimson... concentrate... you can do this... don't fuck this up..." i said to myself. "you remember what happened last time you lost you're memory." i said causing memories to flash back into my head. the memories made me shiver but i pushed them away and concentrated on the train cart. the lights in the train cart were still on and a few of my friends were sitting at a table playing a game of cards. more specifically twilight, derek, nightflame, and ezekiel were playing cards. applejack was off in the corner packing up my gear, which i left behind. strangely black hoof and mystee were not in the cart. they must be getting food or something. i didn't let it bother me and concentrated.

i focused on the cart and i could feel energy welling up inside me. as i closed my eyes and concentrated i could feel a faint breeze and energy surround me. i started to sort of like glitch out, phasing rapidly in and out of the two worlds. i was aware of both worlds now. the lights in the train started to flicker and spark causing my friends to look over to them in curiosity, but they quickly ignored them. the mirror in purgatory began to crack, and carck, and soon enough... it shattered. it broke and i escaped from the plains of purgatory and soon i was on the train. the energy of me arriving there was enough to cause the lights to break overhead and the cart went black with darkness.

"what the hey..." said applejack. "what was that?"

"i don't know... electrical shortage or something." said derek. "here i can fix it." he said making his horn glow. the pieces of glass and plastic from the lights flew back up to the ceiling and fused back together. the wires recoiled around themselves and the lights flickered back to life. the room filled with light and i could see clearly now. i looked at my friends and they seemed to stare right at me. thinking that they could see me made me smile.

"much better." said applejack who was right behind me. they were staring at her and not me. they moved their attention from her and everypony looked away like i wasn't in the room... well technically i wasn't. i looked over to the table of friends playing cards and walked over and stood behind derek. two kings, a seven, an ace, and a jack... he never was good at cards. i walked over and stood behind twilight who was holding a royal flush... now how does that happen. i went to go rest my arm on derek's shoulder as a joke but i just seemed to pass right through him and i almost fell over. i looked at my hoof and back at him. now that i think of it... i could have some fun with this. i lifted my hoof up and took a swing at dereks head and my hoof just passed right through. this was going to be more fun than i though... and it was.

"FATALITY!" i yelled as i shoved my arm through nightflame's chest and pretended to rip his heart out and hold it in my hoof. i couldn't help but fall to the ground laughing. i spent the last hour or so fucking around while my friends played their card game. after a while applejack joined in too and started playing, but there was still no sign of black hoof and mystee. i crawled up off the floor and wiped a small laughter induced tear from my ey, at least this is more fun. getting curious now i decided to look around and find those two.

i walked away from the cart and decided to check the front of the train. i walked around and just passed through doors and ponies alike without anypony knowing i'm here. this ghost stuff is the shit... i'm definitely doing this every time i die. i smiled as i thought to myself and trotted down the train looking left and right for mystee and blackhoof. and eventually i got to the caboose of the train... well i guess they're in the back of the train. so i turned around and started trotting back. i walked through doors and ponies until i reached the cart with my friends in it. they were considerably far from the head of the train... at least six or seven carts away from the engine.

when i got back to the cart they were all done with the game and packing up the cards and winnings. they all crawled around to their own beds. the same kind of formation as the last time. though there was an air of emptiness which only my body could fill in the bed across from twilight. though mystee and black hoof were gone., they weren't far... i was long gone. or at least that's what they think... i am right here after all. i looked at twilight as she stared off at the empty bed across from her.

"i know this sounds silly... but i already miss him." she said. that made me smile.

"he did always have a comforting feeling around him." said applejack from a different bed.

"he freaking died for us..." said derek. "he's always been there for us and now we have to be strong for him... besides, we all know as well as he does that he'll be back."

"yeah... he's a tough bastard..." said nightflame. "we can be tough too... at least for him." they all smiled and twilight used her magic to turn off the lights in the cart. it was dark now. i couldn't help but stand there and wonder how i could have such great friends. i kept smiling and soon enough i let my curiosity get hold of me again and began to look for mystee and black hoof. i walked over to the back door and walked through them into the next cart. i walked in and it was just an empty bedroom cart just as dark as it was outside. i looked down and i could see light shining through the window to the next bedroom cart. it was faint but there was a small glow coming from the window of the door.

i slowly walked over and as i grew closer i could see there was something blocking the light from shining through the second door. somepony had hung something over it from the other cart. i walked closer and closer and i could see it was some kind of sheet hanging over the door. i walked through the first door and stopped at the bridge between the two carts. before i walked in i listened first. i could hear sighs, and grunts. i slowly walked in and as my head phased past the door i saw exactly what i though i would.

the room was a suite with a large bed at the back and nothing else around. in the bed... mystee and black hoof. mystee laid on her back with her legs spread wide open and black hoof towered above her with his hips between hers. they were deeply kissing each other while black hoof penetrated mystee over and over again with his large cock. i felt sick... but strangely attracted to it. i didn't know they were a couple. i don't think they talk about it, they don't even show it in public. maybe this is a secret affair or something? i couldn't help but keep watching as the two of them went at it. i felt disgusted with myself. it reminded me of the time when me and mystee, well... i hope black hoof treats her better than i did.

i slowly turned away and let them be, even though they were always alone, technically i wasn't there, but i know. i just walked down the empty room and back into the room my friends were in. i walked over and i floated up to the top of the cart. i was going to go and lay in what should have been my bed when i looked over at twilight. she laid there in her bed with the covers half thrown over her. the covers on this train seemed thinner than paper. i could see she was shaking in her sleep. i floated over and with plenty of energy i managed to actually grab hold of the covers around twilight and pull them up to her. i looked at what i had done and i smiled. i guess i have a bigger influence than i though. i even flew over and grabbed my own blankets off my bed and pulled them over and covered twilight in them. i know i don't need them.

she seemed to snuggle up with the blankets and smile in her sleep. i smiled back at her and flew over to my empty bed. i slowly floated down and rested on the bed. its wasn't comfortable... i couldn't really feel anything. but it felt good to lay down. i don't even need to sleep, i'm dead. in fact i'm finding it hard to sleep. i just laid there and thought for a while but after a few hours i eventually drifted off into a sleep like state. i hope that with me out of the way trouble won't go looking for twilight and the others. in fact i'm sure that since i'm not there to attract attention twilight and the others are safer now.

lets hope that my theories are correct...

-Authors Note: hey guys i'm posting this chapter early today because i'm finally going out to buy a new computer with my victory money. so i'll be gone for a while doing that and it'll probably take even longer transferring all my old data and downloads onto the new one so i'll be busy with that after i'm done actually setting it up. so yeah... hope you guys liked this chapter, i thought it was rather neat and stay tuned for the next installment of the story. until next time guys. stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	26. Chapter 26: Crimson The Friendly Ghost

so i followed my friends as a ghost for a while. i managed to keep my boredom at bay by haunting the train. i would like to say that i've done a good job as a ghost so far, and i've really lived up to the stereotype. wail, moan, write messages in rd pain which ponies think is blood, and i pick things up and throw them or rearrange them... so through my actions this train has dubbed... "haunted". my friends have been trying to get rid of me which i think is hilarious but whenever they try i just make the lights flicker and the train rock back and forth. it was fun but i guess i can tell them it's me... after all they are getting worried.

i walked over to the table of friends that were playing cards. i had a trick up my sleeve that i've been saving for a while. i walked over to the table and stood up on it. they had just placed the deck of cards down and were getting ready to play. they had even placed their bets. i reached down and using up a bit of energy i grabbed the deck of cards and held it in the air. to them it was a floating deck of cards and they seemed to back away.

"damnit... not now." said derek. he threw an apple he was eating at me put it just passed right through.

"did you really try and hit the ghost with an apple." asked mystee.

"we have to be careful around that thing... god, don't get it angry" said black hoof.

"well it's not a dangerous ghost i reckon." said applejack. "seems more like an asshole." she said. i just rolled my eyes and chucked the deck of cards at the wall and it hit with a thud and cards went everywhere. though i used my powers to stick a few cards to the wall and write out a phrase.

"see you made it mad." said twilight.

"hey wait... it spells something." said mystee. "look." she said pointing to the wall.

"hey... guys?..." said derek reading out loud. "hey guys?... what the fuck does that mean..." they don't seem to get it.

"i told you the ghost was just an asshole." said applejack. i rolled my eyes and ran off the table. i trotted over to twilight's bags and picked them up and searched through them.

"hey... that's my stuff." she said. "damnit."

"hey c'mon go away." said derek. my friends have a very interesting way of dealing with ghosts... then again, not the weirdest thing they've ever seen to be honest. i rummaged around the bag and grabbed the crown i gave twilight and dropped her bags and ran over with it.

"hey don't you touch that." black hoof said getting angry now... they all seemed angry. i placed the crown on my head and it floated up there. i hope they get it because i'm running out of ideas over here. twilight ran over and snatched the crown and quickly backed away.

"you don't touch that..." she said looking around as if i were everywhere. "just leave us alone... we didn't do anything to you." i just rolled my eyes and the cards pressed against the wall shifted and new ones came up and i made another message out of cards.

"look." said mystee.

"c,mon guys... figure... it out." he said reading the cards out loud.

"is this ghost retarded or something." said nightflame. god dammit... i shuffled the cards again and placed them back rewriting a new phrase.

"dammit guys... it's...me... crimson..." said derek. "oh fuck it is crimson." he said almost laughing. the others started laughing too and i soon burst out laughing too.

"dammit crimson..." sai twilight. "you could have told us." and how was i supposed to do that. "you didn't have to terrorize the train you know... but it does make much more sense now." she said laughing with the others. i got a brilliant idea. i ran over to one of the beds and picked up a sheet and draped it over my head... making me look like a ghost now. the others saw and laughed.

"yeah... that's crimson." said nightflame. i just smiled and walked over and took an empty seat at the table.

"i'd offer you to play cards crimson but they're on the floor... or you could just dump the sheet and show you're face." said twilight.

"yeah the ghost act is getting old." said ezekiel. i stopped laughing. i rearranged the cards again.

"can't... still dead..." said derek reading it out loud. "oh..." i just let my head hang down.

"well hey... at least he's with us now." said twilight picking up the mood.

"yeah... at least he's here..." said mystee. "and not floating off in space somewhere."

"that's true." said applejack.

i looked back up and smiled. we all laughed and just brushed away the fact i was a ghost. we even played cards again. i was pretty good before but being a ghost meant i had the best poker face... EVER. and after a while we even forgot i was a ghost in the first place. it just seemed to fade away and disappear. but soon enough it got pretty late and everypony agreed it was time to rest up and get ready for the next day. we were supposed to reach las pegasus tomorrow afternoon so we need to be ready. there aren't any trains that run out of the country but las pegasus is the closest city to the border. it'll only be a short walk.

we all climbed in our beds and i laid in mine. derek used his magic and flicked the lights off and the room was dark except for the faint glow of the moonlight cutting through the windows behind me. i laid down and looked over at twilight who laid in her bed and strangely enough she looked back at me and smiled. she couldn't see me but she knew i was there. i looked back at her too and smiled. and like before, even though she couldn't see me smile she still knew that i was. she looked at me straight on and she seemed to say goodnight without actually saying it. i just smiled and closed my eyes and started to drift off. soon enough darkness ensued and i was in a deep sleep.

a sleep only to be woken by the sound of readying hooves and daylight piercing through my transparent body and flooding the room around me. i woke up and i had drastically overslept. i saw all my friends up and about checking equipment and joking around. they looked fresh and rejuvenated, like they had already been up for hours. but seeing as i'm dead i don't feel this way and hopped off my bed without a problem. i walked down onto the floor and looked around. i could tell they hadn't just woken up since derek walked into the cart now with a big plate of food for everypony.

"alright guys... food." he said smiling and placing the food down on the table in the cart. the others went over and joined him except for twilight who was busy organizing a few things. she had them all scattered around and floating everywhere and i could tell it might have all be too heavy for her since she was struggling.

"save some for me..." she said looking back. "i've still got to fix this mess." she said. i smiled and walked over using my ghostly magic to hold some of the things up for her. as she felt the weight of the objects leave she looked around and smiled knowing it was me. i also used my magic to grab and levitate an apple over to twilight and she giggled. the others just watched the floating apple confused for a second but i think they remembered. "thanks crimson." said twilight giggling and holding the apple now.

"hey no help for the rest of us." said derek smiling. "i had to carry all this food here." he said. i just laughed and rolled my eyes. i used my magic to take hold of an apple, and throw it right at his dumb face. the others laughed and i laughed harder. "yeah... i think i deserved that a little..." he said. i took hold of another apple and threw it at his face too. "alright... now you're just being a dick." i laughed at him. i looked back to the boxes twilight had and i shuffled them up in an organized style. she smiled and i placed them down.

"thank you crimson." said twilight making me smile. i helped around with all the other things and my friends appreciated it. but the day went by like any other. even though my friends know i'm here and i can help them it's hard. ghost's aren't supposed to pick up and move objects in the natural world so it consumes a lot of energy. and i'm getting tired enough to sleep. and it's a constant tired too. my energy only seems to rejuvenate when i sleep. it's like i'm some kind of battery that needs to be charged every day. so after awhile i finally stopped helping out after i had dropped a few things. but a stroke of good news finally made it's way in.

"attention passengers." said the conductor over the intercom. "we will be arriving in las pegasus shortly. please pack up and prepare to leave the train... thank you for choosing equestria railway services and we hope you have a wonderful stay in las pegasus." he said... blow hard. oh well, at least now we can all get going. and on another note of good news, i think i'll be reviving in a few days or so. the others can't see but my marks have already spread to my face and to my lower back.

soon enough we could see the city of las pegasus through our windows as we grew closer and closer. after a while the train soon started to slow down to a stop before we had completely stopped at the station. we all had our things to carry. even me... unfortunately.

"crimson... can you grab these two boxes?" asked twilight. i couldn't reply to her with words since she wouldn't be able to hear them. but i walked over and grabbed the two small wooden boxes of preserved food and carried them with me. i could no longer use my magic since it was too physically exhausting so i hoisted these boxes on my back. ezekiel had to go and get the cart in storage and bring it outside since it won't fit through the doors. "thank you crimson." twilight said as i held the boxes.

we all walked out of the train and onto the platform. these boxes were growing unbearably heavy and i needed to put them down somewhere. soon enough ezekiel came out with the cart and i walked over to it and placed them down on the cart and took a deep breath. the others placed their boxes down and we threw the tarp over it. and soon enough the other set of ponies got onto the train heading for, wherever, and it was off.

"alright..." said derek. "i think we should get out of las pegasus and save time... i think we're good on supplies, plus the map that crimson gave us says there's a city called indigo city close by after the border... we should be good until we get there." he said. i smiled at dereks way of thinking. then again, we were trained in the same ways and put through the same things. he made an excellent leader and a good replacement for me... and a wonderful friend too. when you're put through the same shti we were... how could we not be friends.

"sounds good." said twilight.

"alright... lets get going." said nightflame smiling. the others smiled too and they all got on their way with me following them as a sort of... well... shadow if i say so myself. i wonder if i could do that... make myself into a shadow and walk around like that. if i can i'll have to try it tomorrow because i'm too tired. it's weird though. i don't get tired from running around and walking like a normal ghost. it's only interacting with natural objects that seems to drain me. but i guess that makes sense. right now i'm at a constant feeling of getting tired and i am slacking a bit... but i need to stay awake for my friends.

we walked through the city and looked at the sights. it was a very impressive city. nowhere near as incredible as my worlds, las vegas... but still impressive nonetheless. we walked around all throughout the city and looked at the shops and stores that were selling all sorts of neat has really changed during the adventuring age, that i somehow inspired. but as nice as it was it wasn't long before we got to the edge of the city and left through the small desert oasis that las pegasus was built around. the desert oasis connected with a evergreen forest which thinned out into a mountain range.

so we walked and walked wan walked. we were still in the oasis and it was getting late. we found a nice clearing by a shimmering pond and it was the perfect spot to set up camp. we set up the fire outside the camp and by the sandy shore of the lake so nothing would catch fire. we set up the tents however in the grassy clearing. twilight was over by the cart grabbin some things and picking them up to get to a tent buried under a few boxes.

"crimson can you come help me with this?" she asked calling me out to come and grab the tent. i didn't think i could pick anything up... i was ready to pass out as it is, but i couldn't just let her down like that. i walked over and grabbed the tent and held it. i didn't think a tent would be much of a problem but it might as well weight as much as there is in it. and since these tents have full grown rooms in them that would be saying a lot. "thank you crimson. can you go and set it up please while i fix the boxes?" she asked... again i couldn't leave her hanging like that.

i walked over to the empty spot where the tent should be. well i should say i tried to. i kept moving a little bit at a time but this tent was freaking heavy as shit and i was getting very tired. it wasn't long until i dropped the tent and heard the sound of the tent hitting the floor and looked back at me and the tent curiously, but to her all she saw was the tent, not me laying on the ground exhausted. mystee and blackhoof were around too and they walked over to see what had happened.

"crimson are you alright?" asked twilight.

"what happened?" asked blackhoof walking over next to twilight with mystee as the three of them walked over to the fallen tent. they walked over and stood around it. they were actually standing right on top of me, twilight hoof was sticking through my skull and black hoof was standing on my wing.

"i don't know..." said twilight. "i asked crimson to carry the tent over to the empty space while i fixed the boxes... and then he just seemed to drop it." she said. "crimson are you alright?" she asked again looking around.

"i think i can help... my mother taught me a certain spell... uhm... twilight do you have any enhanced ink and a piece of parchment?" asked mystee smiling like everything was OK. in hindsight it was, i was just physically exhausted, but they don't know that...yet.

"uhm... no... but i can enchant some for you right now." she said using her magic and levitating her bags over to them. she rummaged through them and picked up a quill and paper which she handed to mystee. twilight then pulled out a bottle of ink and used her magic to enchant it. the ink glowed bright purple and the black ink itself seemed to glow and turn purple, only to fade to black and take the appearance of a regular inkwell.

"great... thanks twilight." said mystee as she grabbed the ink and dabbed the inkwell with her quill. she sat down next to me unknowingly and started drawing something out on the parchment. i just sat there and watched curiously with the others. she dabbed her quill in the ink again and continued drawing. when she was done she smiled and flipped it over to reveal she had drawn a strange and hieroglyphic symbol on it surrounded by other ones in a pentagram like circle. "this should help." she said.

"what is that going to do?" asked blackhoof.

"watch." said mystee blushing and smiling at him. she laid the parchment down on the ground coincidentally next to me. the others soon came over as twilight and blackhoof stepped back. they looked over in confusion at was happening. mystee raised her two hooves and stomped them on the parchment causing it to rip and tear... and glow. it glowed and flashed brightly. it then created a ring of light that pulsed and glowed brightly. the ring surrounded the area and i seemed to affect me. i could feel some energy returning.

i watched as mystee started backing away and stepped out of the ring. i don't know what was happening but i just laid there and watched. soon the ring started growing closer and closer. it grew closer and soon surrounded me in light. i made a perfect ring around me and seemed the ring would grow taller and taller like a pillar. i felt something in me change though i couldn't see much of the change. but i could also feel some energy return to me. only enough to stand up though and properly look around. then suddenly the ring of light i was trapped in was now filled with dark grey and thick smoke. soon the ring faded and all that was left was the smoke. but that soon blew away. my friends seemed to look at me and were the ring was.

"crimson?" asked twilight like she had just seen a ghost... wait.

"there we go much better... now we can see him... and if i'm correct he should be able to talk now." said mystee walking over and looking right at me. she smiled and looked me in the eyes. i looked around.

"awesome!" i said smiling. my voice wasn't very clear though. it sounded like it was static and fading, like in the old poltergeist movies were the little girl would talk through the TV.

"sick..." said derek.

"very impressive mystee." said ezekiel in a proud voice.

"well it definitely helps..." said twilight. "that was a very interesting spell..." she said to mystee.

"thanks mystee." i said smiling and trotting over to see my friends. i wasn't completely visible as i can now see my own visibility. i was mostly just transparent but still easy enough to see in the light.

so yeah... not much else to tell really. we all had fun and it took awhile for them to get used to seeing me as a ghost... plus i was extremely tired so i was often a bit ditzy the entire time. but i managed to stay up late enough to be with my friends at the camp fire. we told stories and jokes and laughed. i had a very creepy and unsettling laugh so i tried to hold it in.

"so i just realised something." said twilight.

"whats that?" asked derek.

"where are applejack and i going to sleep" she said bringing up a good point.

"huh... didn't think of that one." said nightflame. i soon took control of the situation with my quick thinking.

"i know..." i said. "why don't black hoof and mystee share a tent and give applejack the leftover one." i said. applejack smiled and so did black hoof and mystee. "and twilight and I can share a room... i've got a bigger bed anyway."

"sounds fine to me." said blackhoof, readily agreeing to the plan. mystee shook her head too in agreement.

"alright i guess... sounds good." said derek.

"great then..." i said. "i don't know about you guys... but i'm fucking tired." io said getting up and letting out a demonic sounding yawn.

"alright... night." said derek.

"night..." said applejack. the others wished me a good night too and i walked over to my tent and phased through the side of it into the tent. i walked in and over to the bed and smiled. i climbed up onto the bed and laid across it on my side. i didn't pull the covers up and i didn't need to, i just laid there and closed my eyes. i started to drift off and i began dreaming.

i stayed asleep until i felt a presence close by. i opened my eyes and saw twilight was climbing into the bed and laying down. she noticed i was awake and smiled at me. i smiled at her and she crawled into bed and pulled the covers over herself. she laid near the edge not wanting to touch me. i guess she still thinks i'm real, and not a ghost.

"you know... you can take up all the bed..." i told her. "i'm transparent... you can just lay over me."

"i know... but it's a respect thing." she said letting out a little yawn and batting her eyes. she seemed very tired and i was already feeling well rested.

"hehe..." i said giggling. "here..." i commented moving down to the foot of the bed and laying in a ball across the length of the bed like a dog. "there... much better." i said smiling at her.

"you don't have to do that." she said. "you can sleep in you're own bed you know."

"i doesn't matter... i'm dead... i could sleep on the ground and it wouldn't make a difference." i said. "besides... you need to sleep more than i do..." i said making her smile and giggle.

"if you insist..." she said. "good night crimson."

"goodnight..." i replied. once more i closed my eyes and started to drift off into darkness. it has already been the first two weeks of the journey and we're almost at the edge of equestria... and i've died twice. and this is just in equestria. we've still got the other countries to cut through and a whole new continent. and then after that i have to cut through different dimensions... god knows that won't be pretty.

this isn't even the beginning...

-Authors Note: i'm pumped guys... finally set up my new computer and it runs like it was blessed by god himself. this is my first post from my new computer and i'm happy. and i'm also happy to say that my old computer is now in pieces... it felt so good to beat the crap out of it with a baseball bat. ive still got like $700 left over to do with however i like. anyway, i hope you guys liked this chapter too, i thought it was pretty good and this is only the beginning. it's a little boring here because nothing happens but dont worry... that stops soon. so guys... i have some bad news... some pony is going to die... yeah...die. i haven't decided who so i'm leaving this up to you guys. PM me with who you think should be killed off and i will make it happen... if i get nothing i'm just going to kill whoever i think deserves to die.

i'm not joking about this guys... somepony is getting killed off. i'm not telling you when or how, because you guys are going to let me know who... so just PM me of who you want to die. they cant come back, no ghosts... dead. i'll keep this question open for as long as i want until i find the perfect spot to kill somepony off and find who that somepony should be... so choose wisely... i'll even kill off one of the mane six if it comes down to that. think wisely guys... cuz shit's going down. i wont tell you when the chapter is... you'll know when you read it. it could be the next few chapters or not even in this story... could be the next one i write. but i'm just letting you know, and now that's out there i'll sit back and let the chips fall where they may. stay shady bro's.-End of Note-


	27. Chapter 27: To Newly Familiar Lands

i woke up the next day early... like still dark outside early. everypony else was sleeping but i couldn't fall back to sleep. i walked out of the tent and went outside. i don't need to be careful about making noise since the only noise i make is when i talk. i looked around and found the lake. i walked over and looked at my reflection in the water. the marks on my body were almost all complete. only the six lines that form the star on my face were missing, but they were close to meeting. and at that time i would revive and live again. they were much closer than they were yesterday when i checked. if i had to guess i'll probably revive sometime today... at least i hope.

i let out a shallow sigh that seemed to ripple the water before it became still again. i looked at myself in the waters reflection and it seemed to change. it took the shape of rainbow dash. i couldn't help but smile as she looked up at me and smiled as well. but that all changed when the water went black and only the sight of a pair of black eyes and a mouth could be seen. they were the eyes of that shadow pony. the eyes and mouth laughed at me and my head rung with his laughter. i grew angry, but in my state there was no way for me to vent the anger. so i turned away and the laughter faded away.

i walked over to the center of the camp little by little hanging my head in shame knowing i couldn't do anything to save dash that night she was taken. as i walked forward moving towards the fire i started to feel... cold. that can't be right. i took another step and i could feel the ground under my hooves... what? and little by little feeling returned to my body and i started to glow brightly. and suddenly i could feel an overwhelming amount of energy and i started to cause me pain. cracks in my body started forming and letting out light and i began grunting and howling in pain unable to move from where i was standing.

then i let out an earth shattering cry of pain and burst. the energy trapped in me fired off as a great beacon of light that tore through the sky and through space. the ground around me broke and shattered and the sky darkened. then energy from all over began pulling itself towards me only to be fired up into the beacon of light surrounding me. and soon enough it all started to fade and the ground fell back into place around me. i looked around afraid my friends might have gotten caught in that but the tents were undisturbed. i let out a sigh of relief and instantly felt tired.

i stood there with my wings prodded out by my side and i was glowing brightly with all my armor on my body. i started to feel dizzy and weak. and soon i fell to the ground and whited out from the lack of energy. i tried to keep my eyes open for as long as i could but there was no use and soon they were forced shut. soon the whole world was black and i was forced into my own dream world. definitely the most interesting morning i've had in awhile. i just really hope nopony got hurt. i'll have to make a mental note to try and control my revival. but i was sure i wasn't going to revive in such a short time... i guess not.

i felt the sullen cold sting of the winter wind along with a small bumpy and vibrating feeling shaking my whole body. the surface i was on was cold and hard but there was something covering me, trying to keep me warm. i could hear the faint whistle of wind as i started to fade through and i could see light filtering through my eyelids. i could hear the faint sound of voices growing louder and becoming more clear. i could now tell that i was with my friends and i could also tell that they didn't seem to be worried, at this point there's not much to worry about when it comes to me. i can be as reckless as i want and it won't matter.

"so if i'm right... we should be at the border soon." said derek seeming close behind me.

"yeah... you can even see it from here... it's kind of faint but you can see it." said mystee who i could tell was next to me. i wanted to wake up but i was still faint and weak. i guess it's from all the energy i was wasting as a ghost so i needed more energy, and it must have drained me.

"hey... hows he doing back there?" asked twilight behind me. i felt a presence close by that i recognized to be mystee's.

"hmm..." she said. "he's tensing up and his breathing pattern and heart rate have shifted... i think he's back in consciousness but he's sleeping."

"let him sleep." said blackhoof also close by and with mystee.

"yeah i'm sure coming back to life must take up a lot of energy." said nightflame.

"i just hope he gets a good control over it... he almost blew up the camp this morning." said twilight. "scared me half to death."

"yeah..." said derek laughing. "gave me the worst fucking heart attack i ever had." hearing that made me feel a bit happy and i laughed in my head.

"hey he smiled." said mystee. "i think he heard you..."

"no shit?" derek said in a questioning voice "is he awake?"

"no... but he must be partially conscious..." she said. "i would guess he's always like that when he's not lost in his dreams." said mystee as she grew further away but remained close and in front of me. from what i could pull together i must not have hurt any of them. and from the temperature in the air and the light in my eyes i would guess its sometime in the afternoon. and if i had to guess correctly they were hauling me along in the cart and had covered me with a blanket or something... i've got the best friends ever.

i let out a few moans and grunts as i started to feel a slight amount of energy return to me. only enough to try and wake up and open my eyes. and i did... i opened my eyes up a little and fought to get them up all the way. i looked around and we were on a hoof beaten and snowy dirt path. it's a familiar path. there were tall evergreen trees all around covered with snow. it was nice to see them and add some green to the usual dead and wilting tree's of winter. it was a nice reminder that not everything dies. i'm much like the forest if you think about it. not all the tree's die in the winter... but the ones that do regain their strength in the spring and fill the world with their beauty. made me smile... and coincidentally i smiled right at mystee who was trotting along the path with the others behind the cart and right in front of me.

"hey he's awake." she said smiling. they had indeed put me on the cart and were pulling me down the road. it was a bit of a tight squeeze though and i had to lay curled up diagonally across the cart just to fit with half of my head hanging off the side of the cart. i managed to get enough energy to pick my head up and lay up straight in the cart. "hey crimson..." said mystee getting closer. twilight, applejack, and the others gathered around too. ezekiel and derek however stayed upfront and they both had to pull the cart.

"hey guys..." i said in a coarse voice and putting on a tired smile.

"how are you feeling crimson..." asked twilight.

"tired..." i said.

"don't worry..." said nightflame. "you're just suffering from resurrection sickness... my father gets it sometimes... you just need to rest for a while. i'm sure you'll start to feel better by the end of the day."

"resurrection sickness?" i said forcing the words out. i could hardly talk and i could barely keep my eyes fully open so they slouched down and my eyelids hung down halfway over my eyes.

"it's when you take up too much energy reviving." said twilight.

"that would make sense..." i said. "it isn't easy moving shit in the physical world when you're dead after all." i said.

"no it's not..." said blackhoof walking over now. "and we're sorry if we might have pushed you or made you carry any objects while you were a ghost... we didn't know."

"don't worry about it... i'm fine... i'll always be fine." i said. "what matters now is that we're close to the border now... so we should keep pressing forward."

"don't you worry yerself fer another minute... you get sum rest crimson." said applejack. "we'll let you know when we get there.". i smiled at her and the others dispatched and went back to what they were doing. but twilight walked over and trotted next to the cart.

"do you want anything to drink or eat?" she asked.

"no i'm fine." i said resting my head again. i noticed she was carrying the firehawks staff that i gave her. "i hope you like that staff... i died trying to get that." i said smiling. she giggled.

"it's a very generous gift." she said. "i haven't used much of its magic yet... but it has been keeping me warm in the cold."

"i'm glad it has..." i said. "the mountain's past the border are unforgivably cold and we all need to keep as warm and dry as we can." i said getting more serious.

"don't worry crimson..." said twilight. "we're ready for whatever is out there." she said smiling at me and i smiled back. "now you get some rest... we've got a long journey ahead of us."

"alright..." i said looking at twilight. she rubbed her hoof across my head and behind my torn ear and i closed my eyes. i remember when i tore that ear a long long time ago. long before any of this happened and i wasn't a freak, but i was normal. just a normal pegasus pony. as i closed my eyes and started to drift off i began to almost relive my life as a pony. all the way from the beginning when i first stepped through that portal and into this world. the first time i woke up in that forest and fought that draggon. and then when my six best friends found me laying unconscious in the middle of the forest.

i replayed almost everything. the times i used to date rarity and the spells twilight used to practice on me. even the one spell that turned me back into a human, and her too. i even remembered pinkied party and what went wrong, even going back and making sure nothing bad happened. then turning into a shadowmancer, using my powers to fight evil, running away from being falsely accused. then i came back to a world being ruled by discord and my fight with him. and then the fun i had with my friends before going on luna's quest... and we all know how that went.

i felt the gentle vibrations of the moving cart suddenly come to a stop and the stillness soon woke me up. i opened my eyes and saw the evergreen forest around us and the mountainous terrain covering the forest. the sky was grey and the light of the sun was barely shining through the clouds. i could feel the cool breeze roll through my hair and blow it to the side. i watched as twilight walked over and i picked my head up and smiled.

"well we're here." she said smiling as she walked over. "how are you feeling."

"much better" i said. "though i'm still a bit tired."

"you still look it." she said smiling at me. it was true. i was pale with bags under my half open eyes. i was feeling it too. i could keep my head up and look around but i don't think i could walk the rest of the way on my own power. "can you at least stay up to see us go through the barrier... it's right in front of us." she said smiling and pointing to the barrier behind me. i turned around and sure enough she wasn't lying. i stared right at the large magical barrier.

"yeah... lets go." i said smiling.

"great... i'll be right here." said twilight. the others started walking forward until we were all lined back up with the the barrier and we were about to cross... before applejack spoke up.

"now hold on y'all..." she said. "i'd love to go with y'all as much as the next farm gal... but i can't." she said. i looked over at her with confusion as to why she didn't want to keep going.

"why not applejack?" asked twilight.

"i would love to go with y'all... but the sweet apple acres needs me..." she said. " i can't just abandon the farm... don't go wrong with me, it was a hoot traveling this far... farthest i've ever been... but i can't go forward... i need to git goin' back."

" me too.." said mystee stepping forward looking rather guilty and nervous.

"you too mystee..." said derek.

"my family is going to be missing me surely... and they need me with them as well... sorry." she said. "it was a lot of fun and it was great to be with you all... but i can't go any further either." she said walking over with applejack. i looked at them and let out a sigh.

"and of course i must go with mystee." said ezekiel walking over. "i swore to protect her and her family... i must go with her."

"but we've come so far." said nightflame.

"don't worry." i said projecting my voice which stood out against the other's. i mustered up the energy and courage to pull myself off the wagon and stand up.

"crimson?" said twilight softly. i walked over to mystee and applejack.

"i understand..." i said looking at them and smiling. "i can't ask you to risk you're lives for the sake of my family knowing well enough you all have you're own to look after... i won't make you stay... and i thank you for coming this far." i reached my head down and hugged all three of them.

"thank you crimson..." said applejack.

"i hope you get dash back..." said mystee. "and kick some ass for us." she said smiling and making me smile too. i pulled back and looked as blackhoof walked over and stood with them. i looked at him with confusion.

"blackhoof... you too?" said derek.

"well it's a long way back home... equestria has changed..." he said. "a lot of bad could happen to two mares on their own now a days... i think i should head back and make sure they make it back safely... plus somepony has to watch over ponyville while you're gone." he said. i looked at him and smiled.

"but ezekiel is with them." i said. "he can handle himself and protect the others."

"i would but my bow was stolen on the train... i don't have a weapon." he said. when the hell did that happen. i guess a lot can happen while i'm technically away. i was going to speak out but i stopped myself. i just took in a deep breath and breathed out letting my worries go. i looked at the four of them and smiled.

" that's very noble of you to look after these three black hoof... thank you." i said smiling.

"don't worry about it..." he said smiling. "you go and kick some ass and get you're wife back... i'll stay here and keep things in order while you're gone." i smiled. i back away from them to join the others as we were getting ready to leave through the barrier. twilight used her magic to levitate a few supplies and tents for them so they would have a safe journey back.

"thank you... we'll make sure to visit when we come back." i said smiling at them and standing with the others. the four staying behind waved goodbye and we did too as we started our way into the new country. we walked forward getting closer and closer to the barrier. and soon enough we passed right through it. they were out of sight now and it was just me, twilight, thunder rush, and nightflame. now it was just down to the four of us on this dangerous journey.

just as suddenly as we walked through the barrier the world around us changed. there were white and rocky mountains all around and we were on a rock solid and snow covered trail. the cloudy sky was even greyer and the world seemed to jump ahead a few hours making it close to night. the temperature dropped forty degree and the cold was harsh and unforgiving, it even made me shiver. along with the fierce and chilling winds and the snow falling down in heavy amounts through the world. there were a few evergreen tree's around and mountains all around. it was the perfect combination of mountain and forest.

"ghaa... fuck." said derek. "damnit it's cold."

"naa... it's even cold for me." said nightflame. everypony was shivering and even twilight seemed to be freezing.

"hold on everypony..." she said raising her staff up. it glowed a deep dark blue and she smashed it against the ground and a burst of fire shot from it and surrounded us in blue flames creating a barrier of heat. she held the staff at her side as it glowed and kept the area warm. derek and nightflame stopped shivering.

"thats much better." said nightflame. "thanks twilight."

"don't worry... is everypony alright." she asked.

"yeah... i think everypony is good." said derek. "crimson you must be tired... hop back in the cart and we can get going."

"no i'm fine." i said. twilight was going to ask me if i was sure but i spoke up before she did. " if memory serves me right there should be a cave a few miles down the road. by the time we get to it the sun will be just above the horizon... i can make it until then."

"you said it was going to be cold... but that was ridiculous." said twilight.

"we couldn't fly before and we definitely can't now..." i said. "even when its not snowing the cold will freeze our wings shut in seconds." i said looking at nightflame. "now c'mon... we should get going... and stay inside of twilight's heat shield... it'll keep us safe from the storm." i said taking charge now with a well of newfound energy and confidence. applejack, mystee and black hoof's departure inspired me to be stronger and try harder... and i certainly will.

"alright then... lets get going." said derek and we did. we started trotting and drudging through the snowy path. the snow past the barrier was thick and tall and most certainly cold, but twilight's shield kept us going. the snow under our hooves would quickly melt away and leave our hooves cold and soaking wet. it melted away quick enough for us to trot through easily, and so we could pull the cart through without problem. even the blowing snow from outside the barrier melted on impact with it and instead of snow we got rained on instead. we had to cover the wagon with a tarp but the conditions certainly beat the cold.

"lets just hope we don't get trench hoof." said derek looking back at me smiling. i smiled too at the joke, i know we both have had our own fair share of moments with that.

"trench hoof?" said nightflame. "what the hell is that?"

"i don't think i've ever heard of that before either." said twilight.

"well back in our old country when we waged war we would build trenches or dugouts in the ground to keep away from enemy attacks and to get around easier. we would sit in them for months and the ground would be all muddy and full of water. and with the warm conditions and the dampness a sort of fungal disease quickly showed up. it's not something you want to get... so keep moving and keep clean." i said.

"sounds bad." said nightflame.

"yeah... lasts for ever too." said derek.

"we'll have to make sure to dry off really well when we get to the cave." i said. i looked up at the sky which was growing darker and darker by the minute. we walked for another hour or so and we had made great distance. we were on a very familiar path now. it was the mountainside path where the cave was. to our right was the mountain and to the left was the edge of the mountain which dropped down at a fairly steep angle all the way into the evergreen forest below.

"i think i'm starting to remember this place too." said twilight. "yeah i'm sure of it... this is where i stayed when i came to find you a long time ago after you ran away."

"is the cave close?" asked nightflame.

"yes it should be coming up any minute now." i said. we walked for a little longer and it was getting very dark now. but luckily it wasn't long before a small opening in the side of the mountain showed up and i smiled as i saw it. "there... there it is." i said pointing at the opening. the others looked at it and smiled. it was no surprise that we quickly rushed over to the hole and dove right into it. we walked down to the back and i started shining brightly to drown out the darkness.

"alright... not bad... let's get a fire going." said derek. he unlatched himself from the wagon and used his magic to pull out a few logs for firewood. as i glowed and lit up the room we could already see the already existing fireplace from when i took refuge in this cave. not bothering to question the already standing fire pit, derek used his magic and placed the logs down. nightfire let his horn glow a a fiery and orange like glow and the logs ignited and flames shot up from the fire pit. i smiled and watched as twilight had stopped her barrier of heat which had already done a good job of heating up the already once cold stone floors.

"awesome..." i said letting my glowing body dim down as the fire was providing enough light. "now lets get some food and rest up." i said looking around. "we should make it to indigo city by night tomorrow if we move fast and get up early." i said.

"alright..." said nightflame. "sounds good." i went to take a step forward but i was already exhausted and i almost fell over. i'm back where i was when i woke up at the barrier. i could barely support my own weight let alone walk.

"here crimson." said twilight grabbing my arm and helping me over. "you sit down and warm up by the fire while i get us all some food." she said smiling and walking me over. she sat me down against a large rock pointing up from the ground close to the fire and leaned me up against it.

"thanks twilight." i said.

"me and nightflame will set up the tents." said derek.

"yeah you just rest... you've done far more than any of us have already done... let alone what you have done before this adventure... you deserve to relax more than any of us." said nightflame. i smiled and laughed a bit while twilight was getting food and derek walked with nightflame over to the cart to grab the tents which derek had already grabbed with his magic.

"you know... i tell myself that a lot." i said. "and you would think it's true... if anypony deserves to relax it would be me... but i haven't been able to fully relax for over three years since i first wen't on that quest for luna." i said.

"hard to believe that was three years ago." said derek as he and nightflame finished setting up the last tent. there were only three and four of us.

"to me... it feels like yesterday." i said. " there wasn't much time between me coming home and... well you know." i said.

"the incident with queen chrysalis at my brothers wedding." said twilight walking over with some food.

"uh... yeah." i said. "the time between sacrificing myself and then reviving felt like only mere seconds. but when i was burning in the fires of hell it felt like eternity. it's strange, how it only feels like a few seconds outside of that..." i let out a deep sigh.

"well you know what..." said derek. "when we get back home from all of this and you're safe and sound with dash by you're side i'll let you relax for a whole fucking year." he said as twilight handed out food and drinks. i just chuckled a bit. derek was sitting on a smaller rock close to the fire and nightflame was sitting on the stone ground. twilight walked over and handed me a sandwich and piece of apple pie along with a flask of water before sitting on the stone ground close to me.

"a whole year." i said smiling and acting sarcastic towards his statement which was sounding like a joke.

"i'm serious... a whole year... if anypony needs something done or has a crazy quest or whatever... just give it to me... i'll do it." derek said eating while he talked.

"i don't think i would be much of a friend if i let you go around and do the stupid shit i do..." i said. "hell i fucking died twice in a week... i can be reckless because i'm infinitely expandable... but you only live once." i said.

" i don't care... i'll bring friends... i'll get the whole crimson order to come with me." he said. "your their freakin god... if they learn that you and I are friends they'll make me their king." i just laughed.

"i wouldn't rely so heavily on the crimson order." i said. "they have heart and good intention... but they go about it the completely wrong way." i said. "if they knew what i really was they would see me as more than a god... or just the same actually." i said growing more serious and trance like. the thought came into my head about the one day that everypony will realize i'm a god and how they would react... and we all know that is going to happen some day.

"what do you mean by that last bit crimson?" asked twilight. today might be that day. i want to tell them but i'm afraid of how they'll act if i do. i guess i've got nothing more to hide, and if they're going to go on this quest with me they deserve to know... and when i get back from this all of my friends and family deserve to know. but i don't want them to know now... i can save it for a future event.

"oh nothing..." i said acting more foolish and silly now than serious. "i'm just getting tired and zoning off." i said looking down at my food and eating it. i finished the sandwich off and drank some of the water.

"oh alright... well eat up, then we should get to bed." she said. "we need to get going early tomorrow so the first one up should get the others unless it's still dark." she said taking charge now and making a plan like we're all used to her doing.

"sounds good." said derek talking with his mouth full. nightflame had already finished his food and me and derek were almost done as well. twilight still had half a sandwich left. i ate half of the apple pie and drank some more water. derek finished his food and i did too. we threw the scraps away and put the flasks back even if they were empty, we could always refill them if needed. we sat at the fire for a little longer getting warm and telling jokes. but soon it was late and we needed to turn in.

we all went to our tents and left the fire sitting there to keep the cave warm. the tents were far away from the fire and since we're in a stone cave there was nothing that could catch fire and burn so we left it going until it died on it's own. derek and nightflame went into their own separate tents and me and twilight were sharing a tent again, i don't think either of us minded though. the food i ate gave me a minor boost of energy and i was able to walk on my own to the tent with twilight.

we walked in and we both crawled into the large bed which was just a bit bigger than me i guess they didn't expect i could shape shift now. i crawled in and so did twilight and i pulled the covers over us. i laid on the right with my back pressed up against the somehow solid tent wall to give twilight some room. she snuggled into bed and looked at me smiling. there was plenty of room between us and she wasn't even sleeping at the edge of the bed.

"you can come in closer you know..." she said. "i don't need that much room to sleep... and we're friends... it's alright." she said smiling. i smiled too and crawled in closer. she leaned over and hugged me and nuzzled her head against my chest. she was poking me a little with her horn but i didn't mind. i just shifted a bit until it wasn't poking me anymore. "you alright?" she asked after i squirmed around a bit to get comfortable.

"yeah... you were just poking me with you're horn is all." i said. "i'm fine now..."

"sorry." she said. she turned around facing away from me and pressed her back up against me and tucked her head snugly against my neck and under my chin. "there is that better?" she asked. he hair was tickling my nose and made me chuckle a bit.

"yes..." i said moving my head over to get her hair away from my nose. "but there's more room you know..." i said smiling. she giggled a bit.

"i know... but in the time that i've known you i always had a sort of attraction towards you." she said making the mood a bit more awkward. "i know you love dash and i can respect that, and i'm perfectly happy to be you're best friend... i don't have harsh feelings towards dash because you two are married." she said in a sort of dull and repentive voice. "but... I've always wondered if we would ever be together." she said.

"uh twilight ...I...i'm." i stammered before she spoke up again.

"i know that with your marriage with dash and you're strong relationship with her, the chance of it ending in divorce is not a possibility... but i'm fine with being your best friend... i'm actually happy for the two of you." she said with sullen and regretting eyes. like she was regretting not getting me first. i always knew twilight had a bit of a thing for me but i didn't know she would declare her feeling like this.

"twilight... i love you and dash and the others as much as i can." i said. "and sometimes i feel like dash and my family would be safer without me... and in this case they would have been... but there's always a dark side and a light side... there can't just be one side. darkness can't live without light and vice versa... but if you feel that is the dark side then i would look forward to the light in hopes that it would come soon." she looked back at me and smiled with a hopeful kind of smile.

"thank you crimson." she said. "you always know just what to say." she said smiling at me and making me smile too.

"i know i can't give you the relationship you want..." i said as i wrapped my hooves around her and held her at her chest with her back still pressing up against me and her head turned to face me. she seemed confused at the sudden hug i gave her. "but i can give you the special moment you might have always dreamed of." i said as she smiled and rested her head back on the pillow. i smiled too and rested my head above hers as i held her tight.

"thank you crimson..." she said.

"you're welcome twilight." i said smiling and closing my eyes. i let the methodic beat of her heart and her warm soft fur put me to sleep. i felt her gentle breath run past my forehooves every time she exhaled and it helped make me feel comfortable. i didn't want to open my eyes to ruin the peace of mind. but even though i knew very well it was twilight i was holding, i wanted nothing more for it to be rainbow dash who i had my hooves wrapped around. the thought of her being with me pushed me all the more to get her back, and i was filled with a strong feeling of determination which i will save for when i need it later. but despite of all my worried feelings of her and my own outcome laying dormant under my persistence and determination i knew that there was one thing that would always stand true. one fact sticking out among the rest of the outcomes.

i will get rainbow dash back... even if i have to drag shal-grahkan to hell with me.

-Authors Note: now it begins... all that shit before was just leading up to the beginning... now it begins. there's going to be a lot more action from now on so hold on... cuz it's going to be a bumpy ride. on a different note i would like to say something about all the OC's ive been getting... god damn. all of them are pretty good except for a few but i'm sure those people where just fucking with me. but most of them are very well developed and very good. but i would like to ask that nobody send me any more... ive got too many and i regret to say i've lost track of most of them. so i'm going to sweep my inbox this weekend and pull all the OC's i dont have, out and put them on paper. most OC's i already do have written down with full description and the owner of the OC. so they're not just floating around guys... i have proof they exist... stop asking me when i'm going to place your OC's.

this shit doesn't happen over night and certainly doesn't happen at any point in the story. there where some points where an OC could fit in well with the story and other times where it wouldn't make sense for them to be there. if you give me an OC and i tell you that i'll try and use it, but then in like the next five chapters you dont see them, dont freak out. sit down... take deep easy breaths .. or just stop breathing for a while until you white out if you get that worked up...but relax. they're not gone forever. i'll let you know if i have something planned for them or not, that's why i asked if you guys had a special way to introduce your own OC's... it helps me fit it into the story.

some characters i can work with easily just because of who they are but others dont work into the current situation as well as others. some of you guys might have to wait a while before i put your OC's in. if you guys cant wait that long and are going to get upset i have a great solution for that. first grab a rag, lightly add a teaspoon of chloroform to the rag and lightly press the rag against your mouth and nasal region... this is proven to help disgruntled readers relax. if this does not work, do not attempt to add more chloroform to the rag. instead pour a few canisters of any household bleach and ammonia into a large metal bucket and sit in a small room with both the doors and windows shut and locked... that should do the trick.

(for the love of god dont follow that advice...)

but do you guys get it now... relax. just keep calm and stay shady.-End of Note-


	28. Chapter 28: Home Away From Home

i slowly woke up and looked around the tent room. i was still holding twilight who was sleeping soundly with a smile on her face. light seemed to surround the tent and make it glow from the outside. there was an uncomfortable chill seeping around past the blankets covering me and twilight. never before have i ever wanted to sleep in so badly in my life... but we have to keep going. i should probably start waking up the others so we can go. i let out a big yawn and stretched my hooves which was oddly enough to wake up twilight.

"huh wha-... oh... good morning crimson." twilight said confused until she turned her head to see me. she saw me and smiled right off the bat making me smile as well.

"morning twilight..." i said. "ready to get going?"

"yeah... we should get the others up." she said. i just nodded in agreement. we both got up and stretched our hooves before twilight went to go wake up derek and nightflame. while she woke the two of them up i started packing up and getting the camp ready to go. soon enough derek and nightflame came out of their tents and we all packed up and were ready to go.

"ugh... this is going to be one of those days isn't it?" said derek hitching the cart to himself. i would disagree. yesterday was one of those days for me, but i was feeling much stronger now and can say all my strength has returned. i was even glowing and my armor was shining brightly on my body. i don't know about him but i was good to go.

"ah don't worry..." i said. "it's pretty early so we should get there just before it gets dark."

"i wouldn't hold my breath though..." said nightflame. twilight walked over to the exit of the cave and covered us with her heat shield and we got going. we walked away from the cave and started down the rocky mountain range once more. it was still slightly dark outside suggesting the sun hadn't risen yet and the snow was still falling down to the ground, though more lightly now. the clouds still hung high up above, much higher than the clouds above equestria. they were grey and threatening and seemed to dullen the mood of the world.

as we walked the silent and still air was soon filled with the faint sounds of falling rocks. i looked around to see a few small rocks fall down the mountain top and tumble to our hooves. i looked down and then back up at the mountain to see what could have caused this. there was an overlook on top of the mountain, most likely another path or rocky platform. i didn't see anything past the blurring snow but i could see a faint black figure that disappeared past the edge and was now gone. i glared up now sensing eyes on our group... i'm going to have to keep my wits about me. the others didn't really seem to care too much and it might be better they don't know. but i was keeping alert i could feel something was watching us now and i was on guard.

"is everything alright?" asked twilight who noticed i was acting very tense. her question snapped me out of my focused state and i looked at her, still keeping my guard up however.

"yeah... i just thought i saw something." i said.

"alright... well if it's something we should know, tell us." she said.

"don't worry... it's nothing." i said smiling. she smiled too and looked back. we walked for a while longer until the storm had finally settled into just a light flurry of snow. it was now well past noon and we had made great progress. we left the mountain biome a while ago and now we were surrounded by evergreen trees at the end of the mountain. it was well into the after noon now and it was still cold as hell. fortunately we have twilight's heat shield.

"oh god how much longer... my hooves are killing me." said derek.

"a while." i said. "the city is imbedded in a mountainous clearing past this forest... do you need me to take the cart?" i asked.

"that would be great..." he said. i walked over and we both switched places, now i was pulling the heavy cart which seemed weightless to me.. "thanks buddy." he said rolling his shoulder. "that thing is fucking heavy..." he said.

"hmm... i'm sure it is." said twilight.

"don't worry..." i said. "once we get to indigo city we'll rest up and then head out through the mountain passage to oasis..."

"sounds like fun..." said nightflame. i just smiled and rolled my eyes as we walked through the forest. the snow was still just a slight downfall that gently floated down to the ground. like before i suddenly heard a rustle in the bushes and the tree's around us and looked over. i saw a faint pair of glowing eyes then they were gone. i was sure now that we're being followed. i hadn't noticed it myself but twilight noticed that i was constantly staring and looking around.

"what's wrong?" she asked catching my attention as she walked up to my side.

"huh..." i said looking down at her now and taking my attention away from the forest around us. "uh..." i muttered. i might as well tell her. "well i think... that we're being followed."

"followed?..." said derek from behind. "by who?"

"not sure... but they've been following us all day." i replied. "i don't know if they're dangerous... but i'd still keep guard." the others just nodded and we pushed onward.

We kept walking through the rigid and cold Forrest for a few more hours and I kept my guard up. I could sense a lot of energies nearby, some big and some small. Everything was obscured since I am not very familiar with this part of the world so I couldn't tell exactly what was out there. And it was hard to see. It was like the forest around us was surrounded by a cloak of darkness. It wasn't too long ago that me and Nightflame switched positions and he took the wagon for a bit while I rested my arms, which weren't very tired really.

It was starting to get a bit late and the snow had picked up slightly and blew in from the side. I looked up at the grey sky and almost wished it were night. It'll be nice and warm once we get to indigo city and out of this forest. I smiled a bit and let out a deep breath. I took in another breath through my nose and caught whiff of something really nasty and I cringed and started coughing. It was the most disgusting smell ever.

" oh god what the hell is that smell?" I said covering my nose.

" ugh... Oh jeeze what is that?" Said Derek as he too covered his nose along with Nightflame and twilight.

" did something die like a skunk or something?" Said Nightflame.

" I don't know but we should get moving and get away from the smell." Said twilight. So we did, we walked onward at a faster pace but the smell seemed to follow us and it was horrible. My senses were going crazy and I could feel multiple energies all around us. And the fact that my nose was burning now didn't help. We walked and walked and then I felt something... Off.

" wait..." I said stopping the group.

" what is it... C'mon we need to get away from this fucking smell." Said Derek holding his nose.

" something's wrong." I said.

" what is it?" Asked twilight. I quickly shushed her and looked around. Everything was silent and the only thing keeping me from enjoying this beautiful dusk time forest was the horrid smell in the air. Soon there was a growl and a huge beast kept from the dark Forrest and pounced on Nightflame.

"Aahh." He screamed." Get it off me." He said yelling as the beast tore at him with it's claws. I used my magic to pick the beast up and throw it off him. It hit the ground and whimpered before getting back up and facing us growling and snarling. It was some kind of wolf, but it was made out of wood, it had deep glowing eyes and... Oh god the breath, that's what's been smelling. This thing must have been stalking us.

" it's a timber wolf." Said twilight. " that explains the smell."

Out of the forest almost on queue four more timberwolves crawled from the bushes snarling and staring us down. It was a whole pack. I got ready for a fight and glowed brightly as large sharp tentacles of light attached themselves to my back and worked like added appendages. Nightflame started glowing bright with fire and got ready to fight. Derek used his magic to hold up his sword and twilight held her staff close.

And soon enough the fight broke out. They snarled and barked before attacking and pouncing us. I managed to get one and rip it apart before being pounced by two more. The others were handling themselves, but they seemed to reanimate and pull themselves back together after being killed. And as an added boost there were a few more that leapt from the bushes to help their friends. Twilights and night flames fire attacks seemed to work effectively but they weren't doing enough damage.

Two timber wolves hung from my armor by their jaws as they tried to clamp their teeth down on my armor. Derek let out a shout as he was just pounced on by a wolf. He fought to keep the beast away from his face as it bit and clawed furiously to get at him. I used my magic to send up spikes around Derek and hit the wolf which broke apart and flew into the air before hitting the ground. I shot spikes of magic out form my armor and destroyed the two holding onto me. Another one tried coming at me from behind but I shot spikes up from the ground and skewered it.

We fought and fought but they wouldn't stay down and they kept coming too. Soon enough I threw the last timberwolves off of twilight and we were encircled by a group of at least 12 timberwolves. It was hard to fight when they have such horrible breath, and also when they won't stay dead. There wasn't much hope for us. And it's safe to say we were all pretty beat up. We all had cuts and scrapes on us. Some deep and others just scratches. I had a few bits on me. Twilight had a huge bite on her arm when one of the wolves got smart and went for her staff... She's bleeding badly.

" there... There's too many." Said twilight.

" I...I fucking hate wolves." Said Derek. The wolves seemed to react to that and started snarling and barking. They inched closer and closer. I shot up spikes of light all around us to keep them out and it seemed to work for the mean time. They just circled around and tried to get in every now and then, but we can't keep this up forever. Twilight needs he and we're close to indigo city. Suddenly there was another rustle in the bushes and a familiar energy appeared.

From the dark bushes jumped a wolf, a regular wolf. It jumped out and landed down outside of us. I got distracted for a minute and dropped the spikes. Instead of facing us the wolf seemed to look towards the timberwolves. It snarled at them and the timber wolves did the same. It was a large blackish and grey wolf with large paws, sharp teeth, and... Wings? Yes wings. As it growled and snarled at the timberwolves it had large black wings spread out on each side as a show of intimidation. He seemed to keep the others away.

Suddenly one of the larger timberwolves of the pack, probably the alpha male jumped out and pounced of the winged wolf. They both fell to the ground snarling, biting and clawing at each other. I didn't know what was going on and the other wolves didn't seemed to be helping. I just watched and saw as the black winged wolf bit down on the timber wolf and thrashed around and used his wings as an advantage. He flew into the air a bit holding the timber wolf in his jaws by its neck. He flew up a bit and then straight back down slamming the timber wolf into the ground. The timber wolf stopped thrashing and laid still now. The green glowing eyes and cracks on its body faded and it fell still. It didn't reanimate but just laid there as the black wolf removed its grip... It was dead.

The black wolf looked back at the others, wings out and baring his fangs. The other wolves seemed to grow worried now and whimpered before running back off into the forest. The black wolf barked at them as they ran away and when they were gone he let out a fierce howl almost in lay of his victory. The wolf folded his wings back to his side and turned to look at us. The others drew their weapons and I got my magic spikes ready. The wolf looked at us in a not so menacing way and barked at us, but it was more of a playful bark then a fierce one. I was confused and let my guards down, the others didn't.

" what the hell kind of wolf is this?" Said Derek. " it's got freakin wings!" The wolf seemed to slowly walk over and pant with his tongue out. The others kept their weapons drawn. The wolf barked again like before, with a playful yelp.

" wait..." I said making my friendship their guards down. They looked at me in confusion but did so anyway. I started walking slowly towards the wolf.

" crimson are you crazy." Said twilight. " that things is a demon."

" no he's not." I said walking over to him. He seemed to smile at me and yelp a few more times playfully. He looked at me with his big eyes as his tail swung back and forth behind him. "He saved us... He's friendly, look his tail is wagging.". I walked over a bit more until I was right in front of the wolf. I knelt down and got on his level. He sat down panting with his tail hanging out the side of his mouth. I smiled and brought a hoof up slowly. He looked at it and brought his snout over and sniffed it. He barked and rubbed his head up against my hoof.

" I guess... He's not that bad." Said twilight walking over.

" good boy." I said petting him. " thank you for saving us from the wolves... You're a very brave wolf... With wings, whatever you are." I said. He closed his eyes and smiled as I ran my hoof behind his ear and scratched him gently. " where's your home boy." I said. He barked in a neutral tone and seemed to stop smiling. Even though I couldn't hear him or really know what he was saying I had an understanding. Like I knew what he was saying to an extent. " you don't have a home." I said scratching him.

" are you talking with the wolf." Said Derek.

"Do you want to come with us boy?" I asked him. He helped playfully again and jumped up and rested his hooves on my shoulders almost knocking me over. He brought his head over and started licking my face. I smiled and laughed and playfully tried to get him off me. " hahah... Alright alright, down boy..." I said. He yelped awfully again before getting off me and letting me stand up now. He smiled and wagged his tail.

" you're taking him with us?" Said twilight.

" yeah why not?" I said. " I like him... Plus he saved us so its the least I can do... And c'mon... He's so adorable. Plus how awesome is it to say that instead of having a regular dog as a companion I have a wolf with wings as my companion."

"Companion?" Said Nightflame.

" I don't want to look at him like a pet." I said reaching over and scratching the wolf behind the ears again. " companion sounds better."

" well even if... You... Ugh." Said twilight before she seemed to buckle over and almost hit the ground before Derek caught her.

" woah twilight." Said Nightflame as he and I rushed over. The wolf walked over too.

" twilight you're really pale." Said Derek holding her. " she's losing a lot of blood."

" don't worry." I said. I started glowing and little streams of white energy flowed from me and wrapped around twilight. They covered her and she glowed brightly. When the glowing stopped she was fully healed and perfectly healthy. Though she still will be tired and dizzy from the blood loss, but at least she's still alive. She laid there in Derek's arms sleeping and unconscious.

" we should get going." Said Nightflame.

" yeah... Here, let me see her." I said as I held my hooves out and Derek laid her in my arms now. I picked her up and tossed her over my back to carry her. " let's get going, indigo city should be close now." I said as the wolf behind me barked playfully making me smile.

" alright let's go." Said Nightflame. I smiled and got up. I walked over to the cart and placed twilight in the back resting before going to the front and hitching it to myself. It was safe to say that I was the least phased by the battle and I should pull the cart. I could still tell the others were tired. I pulled the cart and we walked along. The wolf walked beside me and would do whatever wolves did normally, he sniffed things and barked every now and then.

" so you don't have a home, huh boy." I said looking at him. He barked. " well do you have a name?" I asked him. He barked again and like before I seemed to understand what he was telling me, like animal instinct. It could just be that I am very in tune with nature given my current... Title. " shadow tail huh... Well shadow tail how about once we're done with this journey you can come home and live with me and my family." I said smiling. He barked and wagged his tail happily making me laugh.

" crimson..." Said Derek.

" yeah." I replied.

" you're crazy." He said. I laughed at his statement.

" I may be crazy... But there's a method to my madness." I said. " besides just look at him... Shadow tail is awesome... And I'm sure he'll fit in just fine... Probably." I said remembering that most wolves I know of are either still decomposing in my yard, or don't have wings. But I think he'll make a great companion, and who knows maybe the others will grow to like him.

We kept walking and luckily it wasn't long until the large towering gates of indigo city soon fell into view and the glow of the city lit up the darkness. And thankfully it wasn't much longer until we reached the gate. We all looked around at the huge city that climbed up the mountain. The others stared in awe and took in the sight, while I took in the memories. I let out a deep sigh and smiled.

" what do we do now?" Asked Nightflame.

" I know a place we can stay." I said smiling and leading my friends through the town. We walked around and all the memories and familiar sights started flooding into my head. All the lights and houses and snow covered objects where a sight for sore eyes. I looked around and soon enough a very familiar sight almost made me stop in my tracks. It was my old house when I lived here a long long time ago. It was empty and deserted. I almost came to a complete stop just to look at it but we need to keep going so I forced myself onward. The others didn't ask me if I was alright if I was acting strange, they weren't even paying attention anymore, just looking around at the huge city.

We kept walking around and the sight of my old house told me we were close to where I want us to be. We walked around a bit and I had to think hard about where to go but I was sure I knew where I was going. Made another turn and we went down a familiar street. We walked down the street until the second I stepped I front of one of the houses I was greeted with all the familiar memories of my past. I turned to the house which was glowing within from the light of torches. I smiled and walked forward and my friends inched over too seeming confused. I lifted my hoof up and knocked on the door.

" coming..." Said a delightfully familiar voice. I heard the sound of hoofsteps and soon enough the door swung open to reveal a large and husky pony with brown fur, white long hair and beard, a hearty voice, and a scar over his eye. " wha-" he said in confusion. He stared at us for a moment then his eyes locked on something and he smiled. " my god... Crimson." He said. I'm surprised he remembers me. I was about to say hello but he rushed past me and grabbed my friend Derek. " crimson you old bastard." He said in a happy and hearty voice.

" ah god..." Said Derek.

" we thought you weren't coming back... Ya should have told us." He said hugging Derek and practically picking him up.

" ah god put me down... I'm not crimson." Said Derek trying to breath.

" hrothar..." I said looking at him and smiling. He let go of Derek and looked at me. " I'm crimson..." I said. He seemed confused for a second. Then I smiled, rolled my eyes and used my magic to turn back into my original colors. Red fur with black and blue striped hair. His eyes widened.

" my god... Crimson." He said. He rushed over and picked me up now instead of Derek who was breathing heavy. He let out a hearty laugh that could life any ponies spirit. " my god miska and Kroger are never going to believe this." He said putting me down. " come in... All of ya... Leave the cart out front." He said. I rolled my eyes and did as he said I grabbed twilight from the back.

" who is this guy?" Asked Derek before we went in.

" this is hrothar... He was my friend while I lived in the city." I said smiling and walking into the house. It was the same as I remember it, warm and cozy with a nice outdoorsy touch to it.

" miska... Miska come quickly." Said hrothar yelling up to the stairs.

" blast it hrothar... It's late, I thought you would be coming to bed by now." Said another delightfully familiar mares voice. Soon miska, hrothars wife walked down the stairs and looked at the group. We looked back and shadow tail sat calmly at my side. " my god... Crimson... Is it really you?" She said slowly walking over. Hrothar was smiling and keeping his excitement in.

" isn't it great..." He said. " he finally came back, never thought he would... Oh I can't wait to see krogers face." Miska walked over smiling and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

" it's so wonderful to have you back... Oh... Who's this." Said miska as she noticed twilight flung over my back out cold.

" this is one of my friends." I said. " she got hurt badly when we were attacked by timberwolves... These are my other friends thunder rush and Nightflame... And my brand new companion shadow tail." I said gesturing to each friend.

" well have a seat then... Why don't you rest that young mare down in the guest room so she can sleep..." Said hrothar. I smiled and walked over to the guest room while the others walked around and took a seat. Shadow tail walked over and laid down near the fireplace and rested his head. I opened the door to the guest room and walked in. It was nice sight to see after all this time. I walked over to the bed and placed twilight down on the animal fur to keep her warm. I rested her head on the pillow and she looked peaceful.

I smiled and gave her a small pat on the shoulder. For an adventure like this she's holding up pretty well. I'm surprised at her determination and endurance. I'm just glad we're out of the forest now and into someplace more safe and warm. I think it would be safe to say that we should stay here for a few days and rest up before heading out again. At least make the time to say hello to the others and get to know them. I smiled once more at twilight and left the room to join the others. I walked out and sat down at the table.

" so crimson..." Said hrothar." What brings you back to indigo city?" He asked as miska had already put out food and drinks for everypony even shadow tail who ate up the food quickly. I ate some of mine too.

" well..." I said finishing the mouthful of food I already had. " I'm on a quest... This is one of the stops along the trail..."

" ooh, what kind of quest is it?" Asked miska.

" a big one." Said Derek.

" that's putting it lightly... But you wouldn't believe me even if I told you... Hell you wouldn't believe me even if you were there." I said rolling my eyes at the extravagance of the quest I'm on.

" oh don't you worry..." Said hrothar. " I've heard my fair share of tales... Fire away lad."

"'Alright then... Well about a month ago an ancient deity abducted my wife and took her to a cross dimensional land in order to kill me and absorb my immortal soul. So I have to go to stallasia and leap through a portal to his dimension so I can do battle with him and claim my wife back." I took a deep breath after saying so much and sat there. The look on hrothar and miska's faces... My god the look.

"Well... That's uh... That's..." He said stammering before pausing for a second. " that's quite the tale... I'll give you points for creativity."

" you said something about your immortal soul." Said miska.

" a lot has changed." I said looking at them. " I don't expect you to completely understand all of this... Hell it's pretty new to me as well." i said. i can understand this was a lot to take in for them by their awestruck faces. it was kinda funny but i kept my laughter inside.

"alright... so what, exactly, has changed." said hrothar.

"a lot." said derek.

"maybe it would be better if we spoke about it in the morning... it's late." i said.

"oh yes... of course." said hrothar. "there extra bedding in the closet and plenty of space... make yourselves at home boys." he said smiling.

"thank you." i said. the others thanked hrothar too. after a while we finished our food quickly and miska and hrothar went upstairs to their room and i grabbed the bedding from the closet. i passed it out to the others and took some for myself. derek and nightflame will sleep in the main room tonight and i'll be in the guest room with twilight. i grabbed my stuff and walked into the room. i looked back to the two of them and smiled. "night guys." i said.

"see ya crimson." said derek.

"yeah... g'night."said nightflame.

i smiled and walked into the guest room and shadow tail bolted in too making me smile. i set up the bedding which was rather large and laid down at the edge of twilight's bed on the floor. i laid down and rested my head on the small makeshift pillow i grabbed. shadow tail laid down next to me and curled up in a ball. i looked back up at twilight who was sleeping peacefully in the bed. she'll probably be weak for a while but i'm sure she'll recover fast. we just gotta make sure she gets a lot of carbs and calcium so her body can replenish the blood she lost.

i laid back down and rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. i started to wander off into my own dream world and think about what tomorrow has in store for me. but i was just glad that right now we're all safe and warm inside the city, and with friends too. but even though i still can't help but wonder what surprises are in store for me in the future. if only i could look to the future... but i don't think that's possible. i guess there's only one way to find out. and boy do i want to find out. i'm itching to get to this place already, but it's going to be a long trip.

but i'm willing to push through it... no matter the cost. **  
**

-Authors Note: so yeah... got some action in there... few wolves here and there... nothing crimson and his friends cant handle... well they couldnt really handle it...so. shadow tail to the rescue.

i would like to thank Wolfoftheabyss5 for allowing me to borrow his OC **Shadow Tail.** i know he's been waiting a while for me to present the OC... since like the near end of dream machine... so i would like to thank him for waiting so long and i would like to let him know that shadow tail is now going to be a permanent and frequent Character in the story.

i remember talking before about how i cant make all the OC's permanent and i would like to change that... i cant make all the OC's FREQUENT. meaning they wont be in the story as much or all the time. but if the chance prevents itself i will use any excuse i can to include an OC. it all depends on the situation and the OC. so yeah, hope you guys liked this chapter, sorry i haven't posted in a while ive been busy with some important stuff. so stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	29. Chapter 29: The King's Gauntlet

i slowly started to wake up at the faint sound of a pony moaning. i slowly opened my eyes. i felt the warm fur of shadow tail as he slept by my side with his back against mine. i heard moaning again and i lifted my head to see it was twilight. she was slowly getting up. as i lifted my head to look up at the bed shadow tail woke up and looked back at me to see what was going on before laying his head back down. i looked up at twilight who was now slowly opening her eyes and looking around. she looked around the room in tired confusion before resting her eyes on me.

"c-crimson... were...where are we." she said in a weak voice. she must be very light headed and tired. she did lose a lot of blood after all. it's a good thing i was able to close the wound or she would have probably killed over before we even left the battle site.

"hey twilight..." i said holding her hoof. "we're at a friends house in indigo city."

"i... i feel horrible." she said.

"you lost a lot of blood in the timberwolf attack... you're going to be tired and faint for a while... i should get you some water and something good to eat." i said. "hold in there... you'll be fine."

"we're in indigo city you said." she asked.

"yeah twilight, we made it." i reassured her.

"when... are we... g-going to be leaving." she said.

"once you're back to full health." i said.

"but... rainbow d-dash."

" i know but we can't keep going with you like this and we certainly can't send you back like this either... don't worry... i know shal-grahkan isn't going to hurt dash... it's me he wants." before i said another thing shadow tail lept up to his feet and walked over next to me and leaned over the bed sniffing twilight to get her scent. i just smiled.

"oh i remember y-you..." she said reaching a hoof out to pet him. "your the b-brave wolf that saved us... thank you." she said. shadow tail let out a little yelp of happiness and his tail started wagging. he licked twilight across the cheek and smiled. twilight giggled a bit and patted him on the head. "are you going to keep me company... while i... i get better?" twilight asked in a playful manner. i was surprised when shadow tail seemed to nod at her and understand the question she asked. twilight was of course to ditzy and tired to notice this was strange but i noticed. then again this wolf is a very unique wolf.

"i'll go get you two some food..." i said. "you just rest here and relax. i'll see if maybe i can't find you some books to read as well to keep you occupied." i said making her smile.

"thanks crimson." she said smiling. i got up to my hooves and started walking to the door. shadow tail hopped up onto the bed and laid down at the end of the bed with twilight. i smiled and opened the door to the main room. i walked out and saw nightflame and derek still sleeping over at the other end of the room. i walked out and closed the door slightly to the guest room. i was getting uncomfortable in this body and decided to return to my normal self. i grew a few feet and my colors changed. my hair was flowing and golden blonde and my fur was pure white with black marking on it. my symbols are black when they don't glow... i think it's a nice accent, like a huge body wide tattoo that glows and is awesome. i cracked my neck both ways and stretched out my legs and hooves.

this is the first time i think when there wasn't some part of me that was glowing or radiant with magic. i think i finally got it under control. i looked over myself and never really noticed how ripped i was under my armor. i guess with great power comes great muscles. i smiled and walked over to the table and the cabinet where they keep food. i grabbed some tarts and quickly got some water afterwards. with the food and water i walked back into the guest room and closed the door without waking the house. twilight looked over and me and smiled a little.

"weren't you a few feet shorter when you left a few minutes ago." she said. i just smiled and rolled my eyes. "i also remember you're hair being less... blonde."

"good to see the blood loss hasn't affected you're sense of humor." i said.

"i've always g-got a joke for you." she said making me laugh softly. i placed a bowl of water and a tart on the ground and shadow tail jumped up and started lapping form the bowl of water i got for him instead of a glass. i walked over and pulled the end table at the top of the bed closer to the bed and closer to twilight so she could reach and i placed our food on it. "s-so why the... the sudden change of skin?" she asked reaching over and grabbing the water.

"it gets really disorienting shapeshifting..." i said. "i'm more used to this form than most others... but i haven't really tried too many different forms with this... it just never seems to come to mind."

"why would you need to change yourself?" asked twilight. "your fine this way."

"yeah i know... but it would help a lot for camouflage reasons, and such." i said. "plus it could really help me get away from the paparazzi and the press." twilight just giggled a bit and i took a bite out of the tart i grabbed. one of my bites was enough to take off half of it.

"so what are you going to do here while i'm recovering?" asked twilight.

"probably just going to relax and rest up. maybe see if i can't have some fun or see if anypony needs help. i haven't been to the middle circle of indigo city at all... maybe i'll go there and look around." i said. "maybe when you get better we can stay another day and show you the sights as well."

"that would be nice... but are you sure." she said.

"don't worry..." i said. "it'll be a good moral booster before going back out and cutting through the mountains into oasis... our time there should be fun... whole place is a big city." i said.

"really..." she said. "what else is interesting about it."

"well the forest glows at night and if it's still winter when we get there the leaves fall from the tree's and look like snowing blue lights... the ponies are friendly enough and it's a peaceful place."

"sounds amazing..." twilight said. she ate the last bit of her tart and had already finished her water.

"it is..." i replied. "now you get you're rest... i'll make sure to keep you nice and warm. even if i'm out my friends wife miska is one of the nicest mares in indigo city... she'll make sure you get you're strength back."

"alright..." twilight said smiling as she nuzzled her head back into the pillow. shadow tail had finished his food as well and jumped up onto the foot of the bed and laid down at twilight's hooves. "i'll see you later then." she said smiling as she closed her eyes.

"yeah twilight... i'll see you later." i said. she was silent and i was sure she had fallen asleep. i smiled and walked over to the door and opened it up. i backed out of the room and made sure she was well asleep. i smiled and closed the door. i went to turn and face the other room but as i turned my head i was greeted my a sharp axe flying past me and breezing right by the front of me face as it stuck into the wooden post next to me. my eyes shrunk inside my head and i gulped a bit... that could have been ugly. i slowly turned to see hrothar holding a large axe looking menacingly at me.

"EY... what are you doing in MAH house." he said trying to threaten me and ward me off. i'm pretty sure he doesn't know it's me. "WELL." he said again... how was this not waking up nightflame and derek who slept peacefully on the other side of the room.

"well good morning to you too hrothar..." i said.

"what... huh... crimson?" he said realizing it was me. "what did ya do to ya'self." he said propping the axe up against the table and walking over slowly.

"well nothing really." i said. "this is what i usually look like... now a days."

"well you've a... you've grown... a bit." he said looking over me. "and it seems you've been uh... hitting the gym too i would see."

"i have grown... i didn't hit the gym though... it all comes with the title." i said.

"and uh... what title is that." said hrothar

"the title of omni god crimson..." i said. "like i said... a lot has changed."

"you weren't kidding..." he said. "you almost gave me a heart attack boy... i was scared to death when i saw a large hulking beast crawl out of that room... i was sure you had eaten that poor mare and crimson... but i guess you are crimson... you didn't eat that mare though... right." he said jokingly making me laugh.

"no but i did swipe a few bits of food for me and my friend in there." i said. "hope you don't mind."

"course not boy-o." he said. "after all that money you gave us last time you visited we haven't had a problem with food or taxes... we just laugh at the bill every time we get it." he laughed with a hearty laugh which seemingly was enough to wake up the others as i saw derek get up and rub his head before looking around. he got up and stretched and soon nightflame started waking up. "ah good... the others are up." said hrothar. "i'll go get miska and we can have breakfast." he walked off and went upstairs and derek and nightflame walked over to the table and sat down. i walked over and sat down too.

"morning..." i said smiling. they seemed tired but still tried to smile anyway.

"morning crimson." said nightflame.

"hey..." said derek. he looked over to the guest room door and looked back. "hows twilight doing?" he asked.

"she's fine... but she lost a lot of blood so it she's going to be weak and tired for a while." i said. "i think that while we wait for twilight heal we should see what we can do in the town. or just relax and take in the sights... whatever it is you want to do... but whichever it is, we're going to be here for a few days or so."

Soon enough hrothar came down the stairs with his wife miska and we all sat down to have some breakfast. Needless to say miska was as well... Interested in my change of skin, as it were. But I explained and she seemed to understand as we ate breakfast the sun must have finally came up because a bit of warm light started flooding through the windows and lighting up the dark house. We ate our food and thanked miska for the wonderful meal. Once we were all done we got our stuff together and got ready to head out and explore the town.

" be back before it gets dark." Said miska to all of us. Even hrothar was going to go hunting today. We all smiled and agreed. Before I left the house shadow tail ran out of the guest room and walked over to me. I guess he wanted to come with me, that's fine. I opened the door and we all walked outside. I had my armor and gear on me and it shone brightly all around as well as my halo, wings, and symbols. We all gathered outside and it was lightly snowing and the clouds up above were thin enough to let the sunlight through.

" so where are you boys heading off to?" Asked hrothar.

" me and thunder rush are probably going to just look around town... See what there is to see." Said Nightflame.

" I think I'm going to head up to the middle circle and look around, haven't been there yet." I said smiling.

" well alright..." Said hrothar. " I'll be hunting with Kroger and the others today. I'll let him know you're here and I'll see if I can't drag him over for dinner tonight and we'll catch up." He said smiling. I smiled to and nodded. We all turned and went our own ways. Hrothar went to the entrance to the forest. Nightflame and Derek went down the road to the town and I went up the road heading north to the middle circle.

I walked around and shadow tail followed me faithfully. I walked up the street and saw all the other ponies walking around and enjoying their day. Most of them had heavy gear on to keep them warm, lots of fur and cloth under metal armor sometimes. I walked around smiling but I couldn't help notice that I was getting strange looks from... Well, everypony. I can't really blame them though. Not everyday you see a giant stallion walking around in bright glowing armor and gear with a winged black wolf following him.

I walked around and started to look around. Some of these things were familiar to me but others were new. I looked ahead and up the hill to see the steep hill road I was walking on was leading up to a giant wall. It's the entrance to the inner city. I kept walking up the steep hill all the way to the top where it seemed to just flatten out perfectly before it hit the gate. There were a few guards standing guard at the entrance. Surely enough the guards were surprised to see me. I kept walking forward but they soon stepped in front of me and crossed their spears to keep me out.

" halt... Uh, citizen." Said one of them acting surprisingly composed for somepony with his amount of nervousness. Must be awkward for a guard to give orders to somepony that's bigger than them... By about two feet. " to pass through you must pay a toll of one gold." He said. To me that's not a problem but to others that must be a bitch. I just sighed and reached into my gold pouch and took out a bit. I noticed shadow tail was close to snarling at the guards but I patted him on the head and he calmed down. The guards looked at him with the same surprised face they gave me.

" why is the toll so high?" I asked handing the guard one gold piece.

" it goes to the war effort..." He said. " we've pushed the scarlet empire back to the burgundy plains but it could still easily go south from here." He said acting more calm now.

" alright well... Good luck with that." I said. They stepped aside and cleared the way.

" thank you... Enjoy your visit to the inner city." He said. I just smiled and walked past them into the city and shadow tail followed close behind me. We walked past the large walls and into the inner city. And my god was it beautiful. There were large streets with thin long lines acting as aqueducts were little streams of water flowed from. It looked like blue wires. The water was coming from the two parallel waterfalls flowing from the top of the mountains. And in the center was the large palace which seemed to be miles away, and probably was. But it was still easily visible from here.

The houses were huge and were made of stone with actual shingles for the roofing. The houses were very well decorated and looked almost as if they were made with mostly just stone but gold too. There were some spaces where instead of a large house there would just be a huge mansion which was a whole new sight on its own. And there were tons of them all around the place. All the shops had very shiny and unique items at expensive prices. It was easy to say that this place definitely lived up to its reputation and to the stories as well.

This would definitely be another amazing place to vacation to with my family. That and oasis would be nice too. And I hope that maybe someday after all this is over and I'm sitting at home peacefully with my family we can plan one of these trips. I'm sure dash and the kids would love it. And it would be nice to actually visit one of these places without having to worry about a mission or quest. I cleared myself from my thoughts and decided to start walking through the town now. There were a lot of ponies out, the streets were crowded with them.

All of them looked very important or very high up in society. There were a lot of ponies with armor and weapons on them instead of fancy clothing. I figure that wealthy adventurers must live here too. It would make sense that there would be some In this part of the city. I noticed there were quite a few guards stationed around. I don't need attention so I kept my hood up and put my mask on to hide my face.

Once I got clear of the street I found myself in a huge open market area. There were shops and ponies buying things all over the place. I walked around and smiled as I looked around at the sights and stared in awe. I had to stop to look around in fear of bumping into other ponies. I smiled and looked at all the bizarre and beautiful items being sold in the shop windows. I stopped looking and my attention switched over when I heard something that rung out over the whole market. It was a cryer shouting something out.

" hear ye hear ye." He said in a loud voice. " adventurers wanted... Quest from the king." He said catching my attention immediately. The king huh. I walked over and no doubt there were tons of other ponies in armor and weapons standing there and listening. I joined the large crowd and listened too. " his majesty king sapphire of indigo city is requesting the assistance of skilled adventurers to aid him in a dangerous quest. Rewards include any treasure found while on the journey including a handsome payment by his majesty himself." He said. " all willing and ready report to the castle lobby by noon."

Sounds interesting. I think I might have to see what this is all about. Once the cryer stopped announcing the news a lot of the adventurers around me seemed to get really excited and buddies up almost. I guess they were all in groups. Some of them ignored the announcement and left for their homes, I guess not everypony want to reach glory... Or whatever. The others including myself started marching to the castle. Since I don't know where the path to the castle leads I just followed the group.

And sure enough they lead me right to the large castle. It sat on a huge lake that was filled by the waterfalls and emptied out into the cities aqueducts. there was a large bridge connecting the city to the castle and we started crossing. There were guards covering the bridge completely. We kept walking until we reached the entrance to the castle. This castle was easily three times larger than canterlot palace. We walked into the castle and all just gathered around the hall of thrones. At least that's what the door said. I just guessed it was the main lobby and the large golden double doors at the end of the hall must lead to the throne room.

There were huge paintings of ponies spread across the walls. It was a timeline of the past kings. As far as I could tell they dated almost one hundred thousand years ago. They all seemed to be alicorns as well. Each one looked the same as far as mane and fur color. They all had white fur and a deep blue mane but in different styles every painting. Almost like it was the same pony each time. And they all had burning red eyes too. Before I could keep looking the large double doors to the throne room opened up.

We looked over and slowly started walking in and I looked around. There were sapphire chandeliers and designs all over. There were flags with their insignia on it hanging from the ceiling and a large blue and red mixed carpet leading up to a large golden throne where there sat a large alicorn with white fur, blue mane... And burning red eyes. We all walked up and stopped at the uprising to the throne. The king looked down at us with golden sapphire and diamond encrusted armor and his crown.

" presenting his royal majesty... King sapphire." Said an announcer. The king stood up and everypony bowed, even me. I bowed mainly out of respect but I easily outranked this guy by a long shot. The king stood there and looked down at us. We got back up from bowing and I just noticed now that the other adventurers were in groups and teams... I was alone. Well not entirely alone, I have shadow tail with me.

" adventurers..." The king boomed. He had a deep but oddly caring voice. His voice was strange and didn't seem to suit his figure, like seeing a really big and muscular guy with a high pitched voice, but less dramatic than that. " what I ask of you is not easy... But it comes with a great reward. Only one group of adventurers will be able to assist me and claim glory... And only the strongest can be that one..." The king sat back in his chair and a familiar robed pony stepped over and stood in front of us. I remember him as the court wizard seeing as he was the only other pony with a horn.

" today we will test and decide which group is worthy to take part of this quest. Tomorrow we will venture out... It will not be a long quest, but it will be dangerous." He said looking over the crowd. His gaze caught me and he seemed to ponder for a second and stare at me before continuing. " please spread out into your groups so the his majesty and I may inspect and label the groups.

And so everypony that made up the crowd dispatched and spread out among the throne room. They were all in groups of at least three ponies, there were a few pairs here and there, probably brothers or best friends looking for glory. And then there was me... And shadow tail. But I don't think the king is going to count him as a second member. i hadn't done anything small like this in such a long time that i'm excited and i'm willing to do anything to make sure the king picks me. plus this will be a great boost for my reputation outside of equestria.

i watched as the court wizard and the king went around and analyzed all the groups. i also noticed that the court wizard was having each pony place a medallion around their neck. they would put it on, it would glow brightly and usually in a different color each time and then take it off. they would hand it back to the wizard and then they were asked questions. i couldn't really catch on to what the questions where but i was going to be up soon. i watched as the king and court wizard analyzed the group next to me and asked questions. even though they were so close i couldn't hear anything, like he was lip syncing. he must be using magic to block out the sound. it wasn't long until they were done and they walked over to me.

"your majesty..." i said bowing gracefully and respectfully before the king to make myself look proper. the king and the court wizard just looked at me in confusion. they actually had to look up to me... well the wizard did. the king was roughly my height.

"is it just you?" asked the wizard.

"yes... just me and my companion shadow tail." i said gesturing to shadow tail. he smiled at the king and the wizard he yelped in joy and wagged his tail all the meantime with his wings partially out. the wizard seemed dumbfounded and the king just seemed surprised.

"alright then..." he said slowly looking away from shadow tail. "we're going to ask some questions" he said as his horn started to glow white. he didn't do anything with it though, didn't pick anything up or cast a spell, it just glowed. first question... a simple one... what is you're name and where are you from."

"i am crimson blast, hero king of equestria." i said. his horn glowed green. it must be a lie detector.

"alright... do you have any experience with adventuring and if so what is the greatest quest you've ever been on?" said the wizard... that one was an easy question.

"well the greatest quest i've ever been on was one given to me by princess luna of equestria. i journeyed all the way to blackmarsh to acquire the elemental stones of darkness and light. then i journeyed back and used the shard of darkness to restore power to the moon and princess luna's kingdom." i said. the mages horn glowed green and they both seemed surprised at that.

"oh kay..." he said slowly staring at me. "the next question asks if you have any natural magical abilities but seeing as you're not a unicorn i'll just put down 'no'." he said.

"but i do have magical abilities." i said smiling. his horn glowed green but he didn't notice it.

"sure you do." he said.

"well you're horn seems to think so." i said in a witty attitude. he looked up at his glowing horn and his eyes seemed to shrink.

"that can't be right... you're not a unicorn." he said.

" we'll see during the test... leave it blank, give him the amulet and lets be on with this." said king sapphire quickly taking over of the situation.

"uhm... yes you're majesty." said the wizard rushing along and grabbing the amulet. he handed it to me and i grabbed it. i didn't know what it did but i didn't really care. i held it up and placed it over my head and wore it. it started glowing and shone bright, bright blue. it shone brighter than any other pony i saw wear it. then it stopped shining and turned black and shattered. for a second my heart stopped as the pieces of black gem fell to the ground and the broken lace fell off from around my neck.

"oh crap... uh... sorry." i said acting a bit panicky. the king and the wizard looked at the broken necklace with mixed emotions.

"uh i have spares... that's all thank you." said the wizard. he seemed reluctant to get this over with. he and king sapphire walked away and once they had moved on i let out a deep sigh of relief. that went a lot smoother in my head. i looked down at shadow tail who seemed to whimper a bit and i could tell he was sharing my nervousness. i just looked down at him and smiled. i reached my hoof over and rubbed his head and his ears perked up.

"don't worry boy." i said. "i'm sure we'll get this." I waited patiently like all the other groups while the king and the court wizard finished analyzing the other groups and parties. I couldn't help but sit there and wonder why I'm doing this, I have my own shit to worry about. Then again we are going to be stuck here until twilight gets better. And plus there isn't much that excites me now a days. So I guess this was a good way to pass the time and have some fun. Even though I don't really need a reward I'll take one anyway... Find something to do with it later.

" alright adventurers. The king and I have analyzed each group and only certain groups can proceed." Said the wizard as he and the king stepped back up to the throne. The king sat in his throne and the Mage lit his horn up and it glowed Bright white. Soon large hieroglyphic circles surrounded a handful of the groups including me and shadow tail. I smiled knowing this was a good thing. " all groups within the circles are to proceed with me to the training grounds... The rest are excused from the castle."

Before anything else happened I was blinded by a bright light and a loud ringing sound surrounding me at all angles. I reached my hoof up and rubbed my eyes, when I put my hoof down and opened my eyes we were in a different part of the castle. It was outside and there was training supplies everywhere. All the chosen groups were now circled around a large ring. At the end of the ring was a stand where the king and the Mage stood. Inside the circle was a different pony.

He had large silver armor that was blood stained and sapphire encrusted. He wasn't wearing a helmet but had a long blue cape that was torn and flew in the breeze behind him. He had scars over all the visible parts of his body and even the armor had cuts scrapes and even arrows sticking out of it at a few points. He had a huge sword at his side that looked like it could cut clean through a tree in one swing. It had a similar design to mine. Spiked hilt with a long blinding blade.

" alright the next part of the test is a practical." Said the Mage. " the king and I will watch and observe from up here... Captain nightshade if you would please." Said the Mage gesturing to the pony in the heavy spiked armor. Nightshade huh... This must be an army recruit trainer... I'm all over this.

" alright ladies..." He said in a deep and angry voice. He already sounds like he would make a great captain to any army. " in this part of the test you'll be slaying a dangerous beast... Turn around." He said.

We all turned around to see ten large cages sitting behind us silently with large black tarps hanging down on them. Soon enough the captain walked right by us and over to the cages. He looked at them and smiled. There must have been some kind of spell on the cages because I couldn't sense what was in them but everything inside of the cages had a dark and dangerous aura lingering around it. One cage in particular was radiant with demonic energy but it clouded over all the cages, so I couldn't tell which one it was.

" in these cages are dangerous and monstrous beasts." Said the captain. " each one is different but they are all equally deadly and ferocious... You are to do battle with it and slay it. If you kill it great, but there is no mercy here... This is a life or death battle for all of you... But since our Mage friend up there is a big softy he put in a safety word... Yell out the word sapphire and you'll be teleported to safety." He said glaring at the mage next to the king. " alright... Who's first." He said with a smile.

" we'll go first." Said one large armored pony from a group close by. He stood forward and seemed ready to fight.

" good on you son... Now which cage do you want." He said gesturing to the numbers on each cage. The pony looked at the cages and leaned over to discuss it with his group.

" we'll take the third cage." He said. And so the fight began. So light surrounded them and they were inside of the ring which now was covered by a shield. Soon light flickered and shone from the cage and through the black cover on the cage and more light filled the arena. Soon a large black spider, at least two stories high was teleported inside of the arena and It immediately found its enemies. Soon the battle began.

And not too long after the battle ended... With not a not so satisfactory outcome. It seemed to be going well at first but the once group of four was now down to one and another is dying of poison. One pony got pulled into the spiders fangs by its web and was quickly and painfully eaten... Head first too. The other one was skewered by the spiders sharp legs and lastly one more pony was horribly bitten by the spider and poisoned before the last member screamed the safety word. He's over there crying by the corpses of his dead teammates... How the hell did these guys make it hits far.

" well that was... Unfortunate." Said the captain returning our attention to the cages. " and with that out of the way I'll be nice today and ask if anypony would like to back out." He looked over the groups but everypony remained silent. " no... Good... Then let the testing resume." He said.

The next group went and they had to fight a large five headed snake. It was a bit shaky but they managed to kill it without any casualties. The snake actually did bite and swallow one of the members but he tore it apart from the inside which I admire seeing as I have been in the same situation before. He is being treated by his teammates right now for poison. His wounds are being patched up and I think he'll survive. Up next is the group right next to me. I figure I'll just wait to be last.

The next team fought some kind of river troll. The thing was huge and it's skin was tougher than leather but they did a good job... Mostly. One of the teammates was crushed flat by the trolls large wooden club. But after a few slashes and enough arrows to the head it finally died and fell to the ground causing the earth to shake. The team mourned over the loss of their friend and they left the arena.

Team after team went and fought. They all faired better than the first team that went with only a few casualties here and there... But still the losses were heavy indeed and even started weighing down on my own heart. The other members tried not to cry over the loss of their teammates in front of the king but they still couldn't hold back the tears. I felt sorry for all of them but as the last last of the other teams went I knew it was my turn now. I looked down to shadow tail.

" why don't you sit this out boy..." I said. " I don't want you getting hurt." He just barked and licked my face and sat down. I patted him on the head and smiled.

" alright you... Shiny... Your next." Said the captain looking over to me. " and what luck." He said looking at the last cage. " you get my favorite creature." Before I could say anything I was covered in a white light and soon I was in the circle. Luckily shadow tail left the circle around me and was outside watching and sitting obediently. The last cage... Cage number six, glowed brightly and soon a spark of light ignited in the ring, but instead of a monster coming out came something else. Dark black smoke flooded out of the spark into the ring covering everything. And I heard a strange sort of sound. Completely indescribable. I kept my guard up but didn't show any of my weapons.

I looked around and soon my eye caught a glimpse of something. There was a small opening through the smoke where I could see the wizard and the captain talking. But they were not really talking, but more like the wizard was yelling at the captain. I don't think I like where this is going. I then felt a pressure on my back and something had hit me and flung me forward. I flew forward and collided with the shield in front of the other members. I looked back up to see what it was but there was nothing there. I heard that noise again and it was the only thing I could make out from the silence surrounding the ring.

Soon a volley of fast moving spikes fired past the dark smoke and towards me. I quickly put out a shield and the spiked broke against it. I heard the sound again and looked around... This can't be good. I started seeing dark shadows moving amongst the black smoke. I tentacle covered in spike and black goo slithered past my hooves and I didn't even notice it. I saw eyes and more of that sound filled the air. It was trying to taunt me, but I kept a level head. I think I'll try and act like I'm about to lose it so this creature will show itself, that seems to be my strategy... Waiting until I'm afraid so I'll drop my guard.

" where are you?" I yelled out into the darkness. " show yourself." I said yelling out one more time. And soon enough after a bit more of its taunting it finally showed itself. Two large dark red eyes opened up in front of me in the darkness and soon a deep creepy smiled spread across the smoke... Bingo. Without hesitation I let out a battle cry and fired a large beam of light from my chest that ripped and burned through the darkness. The face faded and the beam created a hole in the smoke. Soon though the smoke closed up and I was surrounded in darkness again.

I concentrated and started giving of a bright bright light that seemed to cut and burn the darkness. The monster seemed to give off a screech of pain and snarl at me with its strange tone. I had managed to give myself a circle of light and clearness. The groups had moved over to watch and they could see me through the barrier as I was right against it. I was about to yell again and fire of more blasts of light in a desperate attempt to kill the beast but before I knew anything something shot out from the darkness and hit me... Right in the middle of the head.

A long and viciously sharp spike shot from the darkness at incredible speeds and pierced my head scrambling my brain for a second. It had enough force to launch me back and slam me against the barrier which was now splattered with my grey matter and blood. I hit the barrier and then fell to the ground in a coma like state. But it didn't last to long. I blinked a bit and feeling returned to my body. I slowly got up and held my hoof around the spike running through my head. I didn't bother to look at the others facial expressions but I'm sure they were priceless.

" ugh... Son of a bitch." I said. I grabbed the spike and gripped it tightly. I ripped it from my head and it scrambled my brain again. I fell to my knees in a sudden fit of disorientation but I regained my composure as the hole in my head closed up and my brain regenerated. " god that hurt." I said. Suddenly a huge evil like hand with sharp claws rose from the darkness up above my circle of light and looked like it was going to smash me. It started falling down but I shot up an arsenal of sharp spikes of light that pierced and stabbed through the black hand. It stiffened up and there was a cry of pain as the claw retracted back into the darkness.

I fired off more blasts of light into the darkness trying to get the smoke to go away but it seemed to keep regenerating. i fired up multiple light tentacles around me to keep up a good guard. i thought this was going to be easy, but this thing is really fucking with me now. i thought i had it with that first blast. i kept my guard up and i started seeing tentacles of darkness slowly seeping through the darkness. they lashed out at me and i lashed back at them. it was a full on fight now, though i wish i knew what i was fighting.

soon there was a rumbling under the ground and suddenly i was covered in a dark blast of shadows. i yelled out in pain as i could feel the shadows burning away and cutting through my flesh and armor. fortunately it didn't last long and the blast stopped but it had taken a lot out of me. i knelt down and started breathing heavily as i was now bleeding profusely too. i had large cuts and tears in my skin and flesh which were quickly beginning to heal. soon enough the darkness around me began to fade and when it did it revealed a monster i thought could only be seen in nightmares.

the creature had a large strangely shaped body, almost like a dragons but a bit different. it had three heads, each with large fangs and multiple eyes. each head had around ten eyes. each head had two forked tongues and it had large eagle wings...almost. they were more like bat wings but they had feathers. it had a long tail and it had as many legs as a centipede all long and pointed at the of its back there where tentacles of pure darkness wriggling around and looking for something to kill, like worms or snakes. but it had real tentacles too, ones grown into it's flesh. they snaked around and the tops of them had jaws... like a leech or something. not only that but this beast had everything. the mouths had pincers like a spider, it had claws and spines that looked like large fish fins coupled with large spikes towards the tail. the tail itself was five pronged with iron like spear tips at the end of each one... what the fuck is this thing.

"oh what the fuck..." i said backing up slowly in fear of what this creature was. the three heads seemed to laugh at me. it made that evil like sound again and then roared at me. the middle head quickly jerked forward and it spit a stream of clear liquid right at me. not knowing what it was i dodged out of the way quickly and the stream of liquid splattered over the ground. i watched as the ground started sizzling and the liquid begin steaming and eating its way into the earth... it was acid...great. and before i thought it could get worse the right head started breathing fire at me and the left head started shooting a stream of freezing cold air. i quickly spread my wings over my figure and covered them with a shield. the fire and cold blew past my wings and behind me. once they stopped i dropped my wings and looked at the beast.

fire and ice breath pretty bad combo huh... wrong. the middle head started glowing and then it shot a bolt of lightning at me... fucking lightning. it wasn't as bad as real lightning but i could feel it surge through my body and shock my nerves. it stopped and i almost fell faint from nervous failure but i stood back up and roared. i shot a large blast of light at the creature and hit it dead on. it burst through its chest and the beast let out a roar. but once my beam stopped the creature just rested back into place and roared at me. that went right through it's chest... this isn't going to be easy.

it lashed out a few of its dark magic tentacles at me. i fought and kept them away but while i was distracted one of its real tentacles snaked in and got me. i bit me right on the side where there was a gap in may armor. i yelled out in pain and in my moment of weakness the beast grabbed me and held me upside down. it looked at me and smiled... aw crap. The huge nightmarish beast roared fire and ice at me as well as bolts of lightning. I covered my wings with a magical shield and blocked again. The attacks bounced off or just blew past me, but I was fine the beast kept up its attack and I pushed back as hard as I could I could feel my shield beginning to fail however and soon it would break.

I couldn't stop now. I kept pushing back and back. I used magic to attack the beast with spikes but it would counter them with its own black tentacles. A bunch of my attacks hit the beast but it didn't give up its attack, it just took the hits like they were nothing. The beast kept up its attack and my shield grew weaker and weaker and the attack became more concentrated and hit my shield directly instead of bouncing off. And soon... My defenses broke.

Fire, ice, and lightning hit me all at once... And god did it hurt. The burn of the fire, the cold sting of the ice, and the jolt of the lightning hit me all at once and I yelled out in pain. As all three elements surrounded me they spiraled up into a tornado of destruction and soon combusted, filling the whole arena in black smoke. I fell to the ground close to death, bleeding out and covered head to toe in agonizing pain. But then I heard something... Disturbing.

" the shield is breaking..." Said the wizard from outside. " everypony get back." He said and following his voice was a large cracking sound followed by the sound of shattering glass. The shield had fallen and now this demonic beast was set free on the world... That can't happen. " god dammit get back... Call the royal guard, quickly it can't reach the city. I tried getting up but I was in too much pain. I couldn't see past the smoke and destruction, but I heard cries and screaming... Then the mighty roar of the beast... And soon I fell into a different kind of darkness.

Presuming I was dead the beast must have left me alone to terrorize the kingdom. Soon enough I was out cold, not dead, but unconscious. I could only see blackness and forced to think of what will become of the town now that that monster is unleashed upon it. But soon, and thankfully, I awoke in the circle. There was still smoke but not around me, in the air. The whole place was destroyed. I heard a barking sound slowly come closer to me. I looked over to see shadow tail running over to me and bark.

" I know boy... Don't worry... I'll fix this." I said. I got up and cracked my neck... No more mr. Nice pony. Time to fuck shit up. I spread my wings and began to glow violently as I flapped them down once and launched a hundred feet into the air. I flew up higher and higher until I saw the town below. The beast had cleaved itsath of destruction right through the castle and into the rich part of the city. The smell of burnt flesh and smoke filled the air. I glared at the beast and flew higher and higher.

I broke past the layer of clouds thousands of feet from the ground and kept flying. I flew up and up and blocked out the sun. My shadow now eclipsed over the whole city and I stood there with my wings out glaring at the beast. I shot downward aimed right for the beast. If there was a first time to use my godly powers for a good reason this would be that time and the reason. I knew that I would not be able to destroy this thing easily... But I will reduce it down to a puddle if I have to. I flapped my wings faster and faster and the barrier of energy formed around me and broke.

I burst out with an explosion of light that covered the sky as I blew past the clouds making myself visible to everything. The beast which had been burning. And freezing a building noticed. I flew fast and another barrier formed... Apparently I can go faster. That one broke and launched me further with another explosion of light. Soon energy began to cling to me and I took the form of that, of a falling comet. I flew closer and closer and as the beast roared at me...I made impact.

A large blast of light filled the whole city and fired up into the sky. A barrier of magical light expanded and covered the city as large spikes of light shot up from the ground but didn't damage anything. All the fires went out, building repaired themselves. Even the fallen guards and dead ponies began to heal and come back to life. The giant beast roared as it began to break down and discounting rate until it simply was no more. The whole city was blinded by a bright light and a high pitched ringing.

Soon all the light faded leaving only small glittering sparkles of light floating around me that fell down from the clear skies up above. I stood there in a giant cracked and shining crater with my wings spread apart. Everything was fixed, everypony was alive and it was almost like nothing had gone wrong in the first place. I noticed now that my whole body was glowing bright white with the exception of my eyes and the marking which remained an opaque black. I let out a deep sigh and began walking out of the crater.

I honestly didn't know I had that in me. I need to get a better grip on my powers and learn how to use them. Maybe then everything will be easier. I could probably do literally almost anything I wanted to. I thought about that as I slowly walked out of the crater and soon the faces of the ponies began emerging over the horizon of the crater. And soon enough I walked out full and the crater rose up and the ground was fixed behind me.

I looked out around over all the ponies still glowing brightly with my wings out and staring at them with my black eyes and markings. There were quite a few that looked at me with strange looks others smiled and the crowd continued to grow and grow as more ponies began making their way over. I looked left and right expecting them to do something it they kept still and just murmured to themselves. Then there was a single clapping coming from the crowd. Then another... And more and more. The crowd then slowly broke out into a roaring cheer.

They began whistling and cheering and calling out to me. They started referring to me as a god, their savior, and the chosen one. I don't know how the chosen one got in there but god and savior where both correct terms. I just looked over at them and smiled even though you couldn't see the smile on my face. Soon the crowd began parting and I watched as the king soon walking through the crowd and people bowed as he passed. Soon he was in front of me and everypony was bowing before him... Except for me. I think at this point I've proven that I have a position of equal respect.

" I don't now who you are... Or even what you are." He said. " but thank you." He said smiling and making me smile too. I finished glowing and began to take on noticeable features again. I stood there in my bright armor and gear smiling at the king and he did too.

" it's just what I do." I said. That was really true... All I do is make problems and fix them... But I wouldn't count this as my fault in the first place.

" I think that you would be the most deserving to aid me on my quest... If you would be willing to waste your time with such a task." He said. As the conversation continued the other ponies around began cheering again and celebrating.

" you say that like I have more important things to do." I said, even though I really do... But those have been paused for now.

" I'm sure you do seeing as you are the famous crimson blast from Equestria." He said.

" I thought you didn't know what or who I was" I said.

" that's only a title and a name." He said. " there's more behind what makes us who and what we are... And it's obvious there's a lot more to you than celestia let's on..." He said. " come with me to the castle and we can talk there in private." He said turning around and walking. I followed him and we moved past the crowd. He spread his wings and took off and I did the same.

As we tore through the air towards the fixed castle I couldn't help but wonder how he knows celestia. I guess she is the princess and much keep in touch with the other countries... It would make sense. We flew up to the castle and in through the large doors and landed in the hall of kings. We walked through the hall and into the throne room. The king walked up to the throne and stood beside it. He invited me up and I stood by the throne as well. Soon there was a barking in the room and shadow tail flew over and landed beside me and rubbed his head against my leg.

" hey boy..." I said patting his head.

" celestia speaks very highly of you..." He said. " but you prove to be more than her words let on."

" didn't know celestia was so social with her neighbors." I said.

" we have a long standing agreement..." He said. " she knows that the azure empire and the scarlet alliance have been waging war for well over twenty years and she has seen the good in our cause. So she funds us for our war champaign."

" twenty years... Longest war I've ever heard of... Are you fighting for independence." I asked.

" more or less... It's a war of policy." Said the king. " if we lose this war the scarlet empire will take over and our proud history will be thrown in the trash and it will end with me." He said. " you know... The way celestia spoke of you makes me wish I had a pony like you on the field... We would win this war in a day."

" that's not what the quest is... Is it." I asked.

" not to fight the war no... But what I ask of you will help us win this war." He said. " I have found the location of a great artifact of the azure empire that has been lost for generations... It will help us turn the tides of the war."

" I thought you were winning this war?" I asked.

" far from it." He said. " anything you might have heard was just to keep the citizens calm and carefree. If they knew how close the enemy was then the place would have been abandoned a year ago." He said. " they might as well be at our front door."

" where is the battle now?" I asked.

" we'll were at a stalemate in the abandoned dwarven ruins that cut through the mountains to oasis." He said. Oh crap.

" really?" I said. " crap..."

" what's the matter... Is this a problem for you as well?" asked the king.

" right now I'm on an important quest to the continent of stallasia. Me and my group are only staying here while an injured member heals and recovers." I said explaining my quest. " the path through the mountains was our safest and quickest route to stallasia... If we can't get through we'll have to cut through the desert and I don't think we'll survive that."

" hmm..." The king hummed pondering and pacing. He looked at me and smiled. I could see the lightbulb go on above his head. " why don't you help me get the missing artifact and then help me push the scarlet armies out of the ruins. If you do this I'll not only reward you but in return you'll be granted safe passage through the mines... With our strengths combined it would be no trouble.

I thought for a second. While I didn't want much of anything to be part of this war It would save us a lot of trouble and make our quest all the more possible. It was an easy choice that I should help the king. But I would most likely become a wanted enemy of the scarlet empire. That's alright I guess, they don't even know me, I don't even know where they are, and I don't think I pass by the scarlet empire at all on the trip. I thought some more on a few of the details and smiled as I came to a conclusion in my head.

" alright you highness... It's a deal."

-Authors Note: oh whats this... a new awesome quest... already getting tons of action 'n stuff in here. i'm hopping to get more into the back story behind indigo city so that maybe it'll be a more solid and sturdy place instead of just a place crimson lived in for a few months that one time. i'm going to do the same thing with oasis where i'll be developing the city a bit more and put some kind of history behind it. but yeah, this quest is going to be pretty epic and it's going to end in war.

and also i have posted my story on (fim fiction .net) so you guys can go check it out there. sorry about how i had to spell that out, if i type the website in regularly it just gets deleted for some reason. but i'm not sure how going to that site makes a difference really, i only have five chapters up right now but i'm going to be posting my story there too. so if there's something more special about that place it'll be there too. honestly i dont care where you read it. i was told by one of you guys to post it on there so i thought i would check it out and decided "why the hell not". it isn't as simple as this site but it's more organized and has a bunch of neat features so if you wanna check it out there feel free. so stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	30. Chapter 30: The Hall Of Kings

so the king and i shook and the deal was made. he saw me out of the castle personally and i started heading back to hrothars house. as i walked through the town everypony that saw me cheered and smiled at me. nice to know that i'm so easily celebrated already. i kept walking and took turn after turn as shadow tail followed close behind me. it wasn't long after we passed by a few more houses and rounded another corner that the wall came into view. i smiled and kept walking forward and eventually left through the gate to the outer city. the guards smiled and saluted me as i left. i just smiled back and kept walking.

i spread my wings and flew up into the air. shadow tail followed me and spread his wings and flew up as well. we tore through the sky together and soon i pinpointed hrothars house down below. it was a good thing too because it was starting to get late and i promised to be there before dinner. as i spotted the house i smiled and banked downward. i slowly spiraled down to the house and landed right in front of it. a few ponies on the street smiled and waved at me and i waved back. i looked up to the sky and saw it was darker than i thought, must be the height difference. oh well i'm sure i haven't missed much... hopefully

i walked to the door and opened it up. i let shadow tail in first and then walked in myself. everypony in the room looked over to me as i walked in. i saw miska and hrothgar at one end smiling at me. and my friends at the other end of the table too were also smiling at me, including twilight who was looking much better. and to a delightful surprise i saw kroger sitting at the table too. he wasn't sitting for much longer before he leapt up and hugged me. he started laughing and patting my back and i hugged him back.

"haha... crimson my boy..." he said. "it's been too long... " he said as we walked over to the table and sat down.

"it's good to see you kroger." i said.

"i didn't think you would be coming back." he said. "what made you change you're mind."

"well i'm not staying... just passing through on my way to oasis." i said. "so did i miss anything?"

"not really..." said twilight.

"we were just talking about how our days were." said hrothar. "me and kroger killed two deer today."

"i'm starting to feel much better." said twilight.

"me and nightflame helped around town." said derek.

"mostly just small stuff though." said nightflame. "we did have to slay a few wolves today for a farmer."

"speaking of slaying," said miska bringing out hot bowls of soup to everypony. "did you hear that a monstrous dreamfeeder escaped from the palace today and wrecked havoc on the rich part of the town..." she said making me feel guilty. " they said a knight in the brightest armor saved everypony. he killed the monster, fixed the town, even brought the dead back to life." i kept my head low and ate my soup quietly.

"hmm... sounds rather familiar." said twilight looking over to me... everypony turned their heads to me."

"...what?..." i asked after finishing up a small spoonful of soup.

"crimson..." said derek. "would you like to tell us what you did today."

"uhm... me and shadow tail played fetch..." i said. "and uh... yeah."

"crimson..." said nightflame.

"yeah..."

"you're still glowing." he said. i quickly made my armor dissipate. "still glowing." he said. i calmed down and released all my energy causing me to stop glowing entirely and my golden blonde hair stopped flowing and fell to my side. my symbols went from glowing white to an opaque black.

"so is it that obvious?" i asked.

"i figured it out after a while." said hrothar.

"i got it when i heard bringing the dead back to life." said twilight.

"i knew only you could kill something a thousand guards couldn't." said nightflame.

"are you kidding me... i saw the freaking explosion and knew that was you... dude you're freaking rained hell on that things head." said derek.

"i missed the days when i was just a nameless face." i said letting out a sigh. "those days were simple and easy... now i have to kill demons and reverse death itself." i said sitting back. "you guys don't know how stressful that is."

"you wanna tell us where that thing came from." said twilight.

"it's a long story." i said.

"we've got time. said kroger. i smiled and let out a sigh.

"well i was going around and i entered the inner city. i walked around and some cryer was saying the king was holding trials to find a group of adventurers that could aid him on a quest. so i went there and he tested us, one of the tests was to slay a dangerous beast."

"and that was you're beast wasn't it." said nightflame.

"well yes... it wasn't supposed to get out." i said. "there was a shield but it didn't hold up long... mistakes were made on all sides... so it got out and started killing everything."

"so naturally you killed it back..." said twilight.

"well of course..." i said. "and after that the king said i was perfect to help him and the quest is a quest to find a lost artifact of great power that will help in the war effort and push back the scarlet alliance... so he wants me to help him push them back with him and get ahead of the war." i said. kroger, miska, and hrothar seemed confused.

"wait... we're winning this war." said miska.

"no actually you're not..." i said. "the scarlet alliance has pushed back you're armies to the abandoned dwarven ruins cutting through the mountain. so i agreed to help him so we could clear that path and get through there with ease." i said.

"my god..." said hrothar seeming outraged. "i can't believe they would feed such lies to us... they told us they where all the way back at the burgundy plains when they have been sitting in our back yard this whole time."

"yes but i plan on helping king sapphire to push the armies back so me and my friends can get through and to help you get ahead in this war."

" so... Sounds like you've had an interesting day." Said twilight smiling.

" more or less..." I said shrugging my shoulders.

" so when are you going on this huge quest thing with the king?" Asked Nightflame.

" tomorrow..." I replied. " first thing in the morning I'm going to head over to the castle."

" well it's good that you're doing this because I'm starting to get better and we should try and save as much time as possible." Said twilight.

" that's probably the best thing we can do..." Said Derek.

" alright then... I think we should all rest up and get ready for tomorrow." I said smiling. The others agreed and we finished our food. Once we ate I helped twilight back into the guest room and followed her. She was able to walk there perfectly fine on her own but she was still a bit weak and I was just making sure she didn't hurt herself. I watched her crawl into the bed and shadow tail walked in after me. He hopped up on the bed and laid down with twilight. I grabbed the covers and pulled them over twilight.

" thanks crimson."

" no problem twilight... Now you just get your sleep." I said.

" uhm crimson." Said twilight. I turned and faced her. " remember that night we stayed in the cave..."

" yes..."

" and I uh... Said some things." She said blushing deep red. I knelt down by the bed and put my hoofs on the bed.

" twilight you don't have to say anything to me about that." I said smiling, she looked at me curiously. " I understand that you might be feeling lonely... But you have great friends... Not just me, but applejack, pinkie. Fluttershy and rarity, rainbow dash, even the others, mystee, black hoof... And I know that the princess thinks of you as her friend more than her student." I said making her smile.

"Thank you... But that's not what I was going to ask." She said. " why did you say all that stuff to me back in the cave... Make me feel like you loved me." She said.

" because I do love you twilight... I don't love you like I would dash but I love you with a different kind of love... I honestly think of you as the closest thing to a sister... In fact you remind me of my sister... You're just like her."

" you mean your human sister...what was she like?"

" she was kind, courageous, smartest person I ever knew. And she always pushed me to do my best... And so I became the best I could be." I said. " sure when I was young we didn't always get along and we fought... But I loved her and she loved me back..." I said, and a certain memory made my smile fade.

" what?"

" we'll...*sigh*... I was remembering the day she had died... It was about twelve years ago and I was in my late twenties... She died of cancer. By that time I was already a dangerous killing machine... But I couldn't hide my feelings that day. It was the first time in fifteen years that I had actually cried."

" you must have felt so lonely..." She said.

" I did... But she would have wanted me to keep going... And you're just the same. You always try to push me into doing my best and always making sure I'm safe." I said.

" what... What happens when I die." Twilight said bringing a grim factor into the equation.

" well twilight..." I said. " I'll probably cry that day too... But I'll have a lot of time to get ready for that and a lot of time after to come to peace with it."

" being immortal means you must get very lonely."

" I'm sure I will get lonely a lot, but I'll always try to make friends like you. But I'll get through it... Don't you worry... Now go to sleep." I said rubbing her hair and smiling. She smiled too and laid her head down.

" good night crimson." She said.

" good night twilight." I replied laying down on the bedding lain down on the floor. I closed my eyes and faced the fire I front of me and started dreaming. Twilight had brought up a good point. I might know a lot about being immortal but I have a feeling there's still a lot more that only time can teach... And I'm sure celestia is all to familiar with those lessons from what I can tell. There's an incredible positive aura around her, but I know there's something inside of her, some kind of loneliness eating away at her.

So it wasn't long before night passed and the sun came over the horizon and flooded the room with light. I slowly opened my eyes to notice nopony else was up yet... But I need to get going if I want to meet the king and go on this quest of his. So I got up stretched and let out a deep yawn. I walked over and opened the door to the guest room and walked out keeping the door open. I walked over to the front door and turned the knob to leave. I heard a whimper behind me and saw shadow tail sitting there smiling at me.

" you stay here boy..." I said patting him on his head head. " I need you to keep twilight and the others safe..." I said. " I won't be long, I promise." He smiled and I opened the door all the way. I walked out and closed the door. I took a deep breath of the cold winter air and spread my wings while adorning myself with armor. I launched right up into the air and flew towards the kingdom. I flew over to the inner city wall and landed at the gate so I could pay the toll. the guards looked at me and smiled and stood at a strait guard. I reached into my pouch and pulled out open gold to hand to them.

" no need for that..." Said the guard. " the king has pardoned your toll." He said. I just shrugged and spread my wings. I flew past the gate entrance and back up into the air and rocketed towards the castle. I breezed past the clouds and the cold crisp air. I grew closer to the castle and soon I was right in front of it. I spiraled my way down to the bridge and touched down in front of the front door. The guards at the front stood at attention and I smiled at them and walked in. I walked into the hall of kings and looked around.

I kept walking and I got up to the doors to the throne room. I was about to open them up when. A magical white aura surrounded them and they just opened on their own. Behind the door was the court wizard standing there smiling with his horn glowing. Past him was the king in large black and sapphire encrusted armor with a large sword at his side... He looked like a king ready for war. I looked back from him and at the court wizard.

" good... You're here early." He said. " come on in." I followed the wizard down the long room to the throne where the king stood adjusting his armor and tightening the straps so they wouldn't come loose. I walked over and as he noticed me he smiled I smiled to. We walked over and stood in front of the throne. The court wizard bowed and I did too. The king smiled and saluted us. " I will leave the two of you to discuss the quest." He said turning and walking away. The king gestured me over and I walked up the steps to the throne.

" are you ready to journey forth with me?" Said the king.

" yes... But... Where are we going?" I asked.

" not far... In fact we don't even need to leave the castle." He said.

" what?" I said in confusion. The king smiled and walked over to his throne. There was a circle with spikes on it resting on the throne and a diamond shaped outline in the center. He walked over with a blue gem in his hand and placed it in the slot. It fit perfectly and the room began to glow. Blue glowing lines broke through the throne room and into the center of the room. They formed a circle like star in the center that borked open and slides back revealing a hole to an underground path.

" in my thousand years of ruling in this castle..." Said the king. " I cannot BELIEVE... That I never noticed this."

" what's down there?" I asked.

" I do not know... I have not gone down there yet... More to the fact that I cannot go down there." He said. " there's some kind of barrier keeping me out... No king can enter it."

" how do you know the weapon you're looking for is down there?" I asked as we walked over and looked down the hole. It was a dark spiraling staircase straight down into darkness.

" kingly tales and legends tell of this room but I knew it didn't exist... Well at least I thought it didn't... Apparently I was wrong." He said. " I've done my research."

" so that's why you need somepony else... To go in and get the item." I said.

" no... If my court wizard is correct in his theory there should be something down there generating this shield... I just need you to go and destroy it and then accompany me through the dungeon. "

" sounds easy enough." I said. " but I'm certain there are going to be deadly traps and probably a few ancient beasts that need to be slain." I said.

" without a doubt..." He said. " well... Take all the time you need and head down when you ready... Once you reach the bottom and destroy the generator signal me down somehow."

" alright... Here I go." I said taking a step forward to the first step. I put my foot down and as it passed down onto the first step a blue barrier of light appeared across the hold down to the darkness. It didn't stop me but I pt was bound to keep the king out. I just swallowed my anxiousness and continued down the steps. I couldn't fly down because the hole was too small and there was no space, so I had to take the stairs... Great. I checked each step quickly before proceeding and walked down the stairs.

" are there any traps that you can see." Said the king yelling down, I had made quite some progress, at least one circulation around and I was hiding out of view from him under the stairs above me.

" no... If I find any I'll be sure to spring them for you." I said making a joke. I couldn't tell if he smiled or not, but I'd like to think he did. I continued down the stairs and soon it grew darker and darker. Luckily I glow so I shone brightly and managed to light the way around me... Lucky, lucky. I kept walking down and checked every step. I took one step and as I put my hoof down I felt the ground press downward under my hoof and by instinct I froze as a large and sharp set of three spears shot out from the wall and jetted out in front of me. My heart stopped as the spears set back into the wall. I lifted my hoof up form the step.

I stepped on the step again and the spears jetted out once more... It's a resettable trap. I used my magic to carve a blue and glowing message on the wall pointing down to the step that fired off the trap and left a message that just read "trap". I left the note and kept going down the stairs skipping over the trap. I carefully made my way down the steps and they seemed to go down forever. I ran into multiple other traps including arrows that shot out of the wall. For the ones that reset and could be used again I labeled with trap. But ones like the arrows or darts shooting from the wall I tested them and they only worked once.

I couldn't tell if I was even close to the bottom at this point. It was still pitch black below me and only a small speck of light remained above me from the light of the castle. I just kept walking and walking. The traps I would run into which had become quite regular occurrences a while ago have now thinned out. I haven't set off a trap in a few minutes and I'm making sure to step on every step to check. But soon to my pleasure I saw a small sparkle at the end of the stairs below me. I smiled and started to pick up the pace. I was still careful and checked every step but Picked up the pace.

I made my way down two more rotations of the stairs and the small sparkle turned out to be a glowing sphere at the bottom of the stairs. I didn't meet anymore traps and I took my first steps off the stairs and onto the ground. The ground under me was completely flat with no groves or designs in it. It was just a plain stone floor. I looked over to the small glowing sphere being lit up on a sort of pillar. I walked over and immediately thought this to be the source of the shield... But it could be booby trapped.

I reached over and grabbed the sphere. I could feel the power radiating off of it and I knew this was generating the shield. I didn't lift it off the pedestal yet... There might be a trap. I glowed brighter than before and lit up the whole bottom of the cave and looked around. The walls were plain and so were the floors. I couldn't see any sign of a trap... But you can't be too sure. I slowly lifted the sphere off the pedestal and kept my guard up in case of a trap. I held the ball in my hands but it was still giving off the energy it was before so the shield was still up... Only one way to fix that.

I lifted the ball up and smashed it on the ground. It exploded and forced me against the wall. It broke up into large glowing dust shards which I tried my best not to breathe in. The explosion echoed up the cave and even filled it with light. I felt the energy leave and I stopped glowing for a while. I whited out a little as I found it impossible to breathe and passed out. I must have been out for a while cuz I was woken up by the sound of a familiar voice. I soon opened my eyes to see the cave that lit up and was glowing now since the last time.

" adventurer... Are you alright?" Asked a familiar voice. It was the king. I watched him curl down the stairs and touch down on the floor of the pit. " what happened?... Are you Hurt?"

" no I'm fine..." I said. " there was a crystal ball creating the force field... I smashed it and it exploded... I must have hit my head and blacked out for a little bit... But I'm fine."

" good... Are you still willing to aid me?" The king asked lending a hoof to help me up. It was a strange gesture especially from a king but I accepted it and he pulled me up.

" yes... Lets continue." I said. I looked around the room but noticed there were no other paths, just a complete cylinder. " wait... Where do we go?" I asked.

" that's what was troubling me too... There must be something. Check the walls for any hints." He said going and looking at the walls. I did the same and checked the other part of the pit. I looked as hard as I could up and down for anything but I couldn't find much... The walls were completely solid. " I can't spot anything... Have you found something?"

" no I haven't." I said but I paused when I spotted something. " wait... There's something over here." I said as the king immediately rushed over. It was just a perfectly circular hole in the wall at around my height. The king walked over and Pointed it out. He looked at it strangely and raised and eyebrow.

" what is it?" He asked.

"I feel like I've seen this..." I said. I looked around and passed over the king. As I grazed over him my eyes stopped on one of his features... His horn. " oh I know this now... Your horn." I said.

" my horn?" He said looking at the hole and his horn. He looked back between them a few more times and then his eyes lit up with realization. " oh, my horn." He said. I stepped to the side and he aligned his horn with the hole. He slid it in and it fit perfectly. The hole lit up and soon small blue lines carved through the solid wall and formed the shape of a door. And soon enough the lines faded as the wall slid open in the shape of the door revealing a tunnel. There were lit torches lining the walls of the tunnel. Once the doors parted there was a rumbling sound and a huge thud as if a hundred ton object just fell from the sky and hit the ground around us.

" I don't like the looks of this." I said.

" me neither." Said the king. " but I'm sure with our skills and power combined we can face whatever challenges are in this cave." I took a deep breath and started walking in and the king looked at me.

" let me go first..." I said. " I'm the most expendable pony here so if there are any traps it's better that I get caught in them rather than you." I said.

" expendable?" The king said with a smirk.

" you saw my fight... I took a spike to the head and got back up..." He smiled and gestured me to continue. I smiled back and turned forward. I started walking slowly down the tunnel. The tunnel was tall but too thin for me to spread my wings and fly... Damn these big wings of mine. I kept walking and walking and we had made good distance from the entrance now and It was just a small blue light from behind now. So far there haven't been any traps.

We kept walking and walking until we reached a large iron door at the end of the tunnel. Beside it was a lever I went to grab it when I noticed something disturbing. On the other side of the door, was another lever. I pulled back from that lever and stood back up straight and kept darting between the two levers. The king had already noticed as well. It was obvious one was to open the door and the other was a trap. I looked around the door and noticed small holed above the frame and all along the walls far behind us... I would guess there would be small poisonous darts or arrows behind those holes.

" which on do you think it is?" Asked the king.

" I'm not sure... It's hard to tell." I said looking between the two.

" what if we pulled them both?" Asked the king. I looked back to him with a curious face.

" both?" I said.

" we'll if one fires the darts and the other opens the door and we pull both we might be able to run inside of the door before the darts fire... If not at least the doors open." He said.

" alright I guess..." I said. " I'll take the left one." I said. He nodded and I grabbed the left lever and he took the right one. We nodded and pulled the levers together. We quickly bolted to the door and pressed. Up against it as the room filled with the sounds of gears churning and crashing together. We anticipated the darts to fire off at us but they never did. Instead the door we leaned against slowly started to slide open and reveal the next part of the dungeon. " huh... I guess we had to pull both." I said.

" lucky us... Now lets keep moving forward." Said the king. We moved forward into the new chamber. The new part of the dungeon was much more interesting than the first part. It was much larger and the walls were decorated with pictures and designs much like hieroglyphics but a little more fancier and not so organized. There were doors on the sides of each wall and there was another large iron door at the end of the hall which was considerably smaller. We walked over to the iron door and it seemed sealed shut.

" is there a switch or lever here?" I asked.

" no... There must be one in these rooms here... You check the left ones and I'll check the right." He said.

" alright." I replied as we went to our separate sides. There were eight doors in all and four on each side. They were just regular wooden doors. I walked over to the first one and slowly opened it up. There was nothing but blackness inside and as I slowly opened the door I could feel a presence in there. I took one step in and the room lit up as torches along the sides flickered and sparked to life. I noticed the room was filled with cobwebs and a shit ton of spiders crawled away from the light and disappeared in cracks in the wall.

A the end of the room was a lever... Well that was easy. I walked over still being careful of traps and cutting through webs. I walked up to the lever and pulled it. The sound of machinery filled the air and I bolted back outside as so did the king at the new sound to check the door. But instead of the door opening a small circle at the upper left of the door rotated and locked into place. It seemed to fix whatever picture is on the door. I now noticed three more parts of the picture set out of place on my side and four more on his side.

" do you see the pattern?" He asked.

" yeah... There must be a lever in each room." I said.

" that explains why there's one in my room too... Except there was more than just that." He said. " there were shit tons of spiders too."

" same with mine... I guess they must be old or something... Lets just keep going and pull the levers... Be careful." I said. He nodded and bolted back to his room and pulled the lever. The sound of turning gears filled the room and the door changed I ran to the next room and opened the door. I took one step in and the room lit up with torch lights. Instead of spiders this time the ground was all wet and slimy and there were a few piles of bones sitting around... It was like a cave or something. I just walked over and pulled the lever and left the room.

I walked to the next room and the same thing when I walked it. Except now it was like a giant be hive. There were combs all over the place and individual hives hanging from the walls. How can bees even survive down here. Well I guess they can't since there wasn't even a single bee buzzing around down here. I just shrugged it off and walked to the lever. I guess whoever made these traps must have had individual animals in each room to scare off the guest... Guess they didn't plan on the animals not surviving this long, that explains the bones in the last room. I walked over and pulled the lever. That's my third and shortly after I heard the king pull his lever.

I dashed over to the last room and opened up the door. It lit up and presented a whole new biome. There was small plants and a huge log across the room fitting in diagonally running from the ground close to the ceiling. There was even grass on the floor. It was one of the more stranger biomes but I just climbed over the log and pulled the lever on the other side and the king did as well. The air filled with the sound of gears turning and we ran over to the door as all the pictures set in place. Soon an off picture in the middle began turning and set in place as well.

" that wasn't so hard... I feel like whoever planned this didn't do a good job." I said.

" mmm, I agree." He said. The small pictures started glowing bristly and sent along a trail of glowing light. Each one a different color, red, yellow, green, and purple. Then the center picture glowed blue and the door opened up and revealed a large tunnel with the glowing trails turning down the path. The other colors ran along the walls while the thick blue line ran right down the center of the corridor. We s,lied and started walking.

" we have to be getting close by now." Said the king.

" I can't sense any immense power nearby but I'm sure it isn't active or anything... So we might still be close." I said. " see look, a door." I said pointing out a door at the end of the tunnel we ran over to it and it was another large iron door, but this one looked like it could just be pushed open. I also noticed the purple light covering the door and carving around it.

We both shrugged at the light and pressed up against the door. We slowly pushed each side open and the two heavy double doors swung open. On the other side was what I could only refer to as our first real test. There were spider webs everywhere. Covering the walls floor and ceiling. The room was huge though, easily enough space to fly around. But at the top was a large spider web, almost like a funnel. We took a few steps in and the large doors slowly creaked behind us before shutting with great force... Crap.

" I have a dealing this is where it gets interesting." Said the king.

" I've got the same feeling." I said. Then there was a strange roar from up above. We looked up to see a large spider slowly crawling out of the large funnel shaped web and slowly coming down to the ground. It was easily the biggest spider I've seen and was dark brown and hairy. It had thick legs and a large abdominal area... It must be like a brown recluse or something. I landed on the ground and hissed at us... Or whatever a spider sounds like.

I got my armor and my weapons ready for battle and so did the king. The spider reared back and spit something at us. We were both smart enough to get out of the way. The goo hit the wall and floor around us and started steaming and sizzling. I shot off a few spikes and cut off one of the spiders legs and pierced its side. It made a screech of pain. The king spread his wings and flew over to the beast and attacked. I drew my godly sword as well and flew over. I held my sword in one hoof and slashed at the spiders face. It tried to grab me with its pincers but I flew back and dodged. The king flew down to the spiders legs as I four its head.

He sliced through one leg after another with little effort. I slashed the idea across the face slicing across a few of its eyes and it shrieked in pain and fell. I flew down and shoved my sword through the spiders skull and it flipped over and curled up like all dead spiders do and it laid still. That was a fun little battle but not that hard. I hopped off the spiders corpse and circled around to meet the king who was sheathing his sword, as was I. I met up with him and he smiled.

" that was fun..." He said.

" yeah... Lets keep moving." I said.

" good idea." He said. We both turned and made our way to the door on the other side of the huge cave. I had to cut a bunch of spider webs out of the way to clear the door and when it was clear we pushed the door open. The doors swung open and revealed the next corridor. It was long and narrow like the last one but it looked more like a cave instead of a neat corridor. We walked in and the doors slammed closed behind us. We kept walking through the dimly lit cave and looked around. Once again the colorful stripes ran along the walls and the blue stripes ran through the ground, except now the purple ones were gone.

" I think I'm sensing a pattern." I said.

" me too... The lights and the rooms are connected." He said.

" so there were four different rooms and four different lights... I think they weren't traps but warning about what's to come." i said. "what was the second room?"

"it was some kind of cave..." he replied.

"and what could be in a cave?..."

"anything..." he said. it was true, i didn't know either. we just kept walking down the long hallway and the door soon came into view. the ground was moist and slimy and just plain disgusting to walk on. we pushed forward and soon got to the door. i took a deep breath and we looked at the door. the red light was now carving into this door and made symbols and pictures on it. we put out hooves to the door and pushed it open. it creaked open revealing the next room as we walked in. we stepped past the door and it slammed shut behind us. the ground was slim and gross. there were stalagmites and stalactites both. the spikes on the ceiling of the cave like habitat were dripping with whatever strange goo is coating the whole place. there wasn't any sign of a creature though.

we slowly started walking through the large cave habitat and looked around. there was no sign that there could be anything living in here or a sign that it could be hiding which was kind of scaring me. either it was in here and it was just hiding behind the stalactites or something or it's way i didn't have a good feeling about this and i could tell king sapphire was just as uneasy as i was. we just kept our heads down and our guard up and grew closer and closer to the door. i looked over to the king and he glanced over at me.

"i don't like this..." he said.

"yeah it's too quiet." i replied. we kept walking and looking around until we reached the doors. i looked around and went for the door and suddenly there was a rumbling and the ground began to shift. we stepped back and several large tentacles broke from the ground and shot into the air creating a wall between us and the door. the tentacle had fat ends where there were teeth and spikes. they waved around and i stepped back and brought my own tentacles out from my back as the king drew his sword.

one of the tentacles crashed down and we dodged out of the way. another came right for me but i cut it in half with my light and it fell to the ground dead. there was a fierce roar that shook the cave and suggested that these tentacles are attached to something much larger. it wasn't much longer before more of the tentacles lashed out at me and i had to cut those ones off as well. there was another roar and the ground began to shake again, but this time much more furiously. more tentacles would break out of the ground and take the place of the fallen ones. i had a feeling this wasn't going to be easy.

Another tentacle fell from the air and I dodged out of the way before it crashed on the ground I was standing on. I moved back and brought my guard back up only to have several more tentacles burst from the ground behind me. I looked over to king sapphire who was fighting on his own. One of the tentacles lashed at him but he cut it in half with one swing of his sword. I spread my wings and flew up into the air but the tentacles still lashed out at me. I focused my energy and fired a beam of concentrated light at the mass of tentacles squirming up on the ground.

The blast burnt through everything it touched and most of the tentacles were either gone or missing chunks of the,selves. The edges of where the blast had touched them were crisp black and glowing red around the edges from the heat. There was a fierce shout and a strange like roar as all the tentacles fell back into the ground. There was silence for a second but then the ground broke down below and a rift opened up across the whole cave. Lava and magma spewed up from the deep rift in the ground and a large worm like beast rose from the ground.

More tentacles shot up from the ground as the beast rose up splashing a wave of lava onto the cave floor. There was lava dripping off of it and splattering all over the ground below it. It let out its fierce roar and showed its teeth. It's teeth we're like hairs but further examination showed them to be a million razor sharp and tiny fangs riding along the brim of its mouth. It had several eyes resting on each side of its face which just looked like glowing yellow spheres. The worm like beast curled it lips up and growled a deep low hum as more tentacles rose beside it and lava shot up in large bursts from the ground. This thing looked like it was made out of stone or rocks or something.

It let out a fierce roar and grit its teeth. Large spikes ran along the beast and looked just as sharp as its teeth. They grew larger at the top and sides of its face but grew smaller near the back and spine. Large holes on its back opened up and four large spider like legs broke out and smashed on the ground and rooted themselves. This was probably the strangest and most interesting creature I've ever had the pleasure to fight. And without hesitation I kept into battle.

I let out a shout and fired another blast of concentrated light at the huge beast. The blast rocketed past and covered the large beast leaving it in a funnel of blinding light. When my attack was done the light faded and revealed an unscathed creature sitting there snarling. It opened its mouth and to my greater surprise a blast of energy escaped its jaw and fired at me. I was caught in the blast and let out a cry of pain as I felt it burn me and I fell. I tumbled down to the ground and landed on a large piece of the ground still not yet covered by lava. I got up and I was smoking now from the blast.

" adventurer, quickly over here." Said the king on a large high rise. I looked back to see the lava was rising quite quickly. I flew over and took my place on the platform. We both spread our wings and left the platform and faced the volcanic beast. The lava rose up and past the high rise we stood on and seemed to stop rising... Well that's good news enough. The monster let out a roar and without warning the spikes on its body shot off and flew at us. They grazed past me and king sapphire and before we could return fire a wall of tentacles shot up from the ground and headed right for us. We scrambled and flew around avoiding the tentacles.

We scrambled and I cut and slashed at as many tentacles as I could but more seemed to take its place... There has to be a limit to them at some point. The beast would often fire more spikes at us or fire off its laser every once in awhile. It fire its laser one more time and I banked right to dodge it but I flew too close to a tentacle and it grabbed me. Another one close by flew over and latched its teeth onto me and bit down. I yelled out in pain and fired a blast of light that disintegrated them both. I looked at the wound and it was just a gaping hole of missing skin and flesh. I brushed it off as it started to quickly close up and heal and kept fighting.

" it's going to fire his needles again." Said the king. And he was right, the beast let loose another burst of spikes and I was too distracted that on thin long needle shot right through my armor and pierced through my chest. I let out a gasp of pain and spurt out a bit of blood.

" hnng... I... Gha..." I said trying to speak but to no avail.

" adventurer look out." Said the king. I looked behind me to see a large tentacle rising up above me and falling down. It hit me and carried me down to the molten lava. "NOOO!" Said the king as I grew ever closer to the lava. And the moment I feared for was right I front of me. I knew this was going to hurt like a son of a bitch and that it would take me forever to heal back from this, so it's a real set back. I closed my eyes and said my prayers. I could feel the heat of the lava as I grew closer and closer and knew that there was nothing I could do at this point, I was hurt, confused, and scared.

****And then... Splash.

-Authors Note: so today i learned that people on fimfiction... are cold and judgmental assholes. ive gotten plenty of review form different people and there is no positive feedback. and it'snot all directed towards me actually. one person had the audacity to slander not just my story but this whole site too. called it the dumping ground of fanfictions and that all of you people are " yes men and suck up's"... i got pissed at that, no lie.

so if you want to check it out its on there too. just do whatever you can to find it and give it a look over. i only have the first 12 chapters of dream machine posted up on it right now but that's liable to change and it will. and over all the slander ive been getting one of you guys told me not to let it bother me... and i want to thank you for that advice. i haven't let it bother me. ive decided to post all my stories to this site and that one too just because i fucking can, and honestly i dont care if people on fimfiction downvote my stories to hell... as long as you guys like reading them, ill keep writing.

thanks guys... you rock. and stay shady.


	31. Chapter 31: Elemental

i hit the lava with a great splash as the tentacle on top of me forced me to the bottom and soon slithered away. i started writhing and screaming in pain only to have magma forced down my throat and inside of me. so i screamed louder and louder... but then i stopped. i didn't stop because i wanted to, or because i was dead... but because there was no need to. and it's not that it was just a pointless effort but the lava wasn't burning me alive. there was no pain and agony. sure it was hot but it only felt like 100 degrees to me. this of course came as a shock to me. then i realized that i am one with the god of fire... i'm god of all the elements.

i looked at myself and saw that my scars and symbols were not just glowing anymore but it was like lava was running past them under my skin. i was somehow able to breathe despite there is absolutely no air in lava since its just melted rock. i stopped for a moment and just sank to the bottom of the lava pool. this was quite surprising to me at first but i figured since i'm capable of doing a lot of crazy things i don't even know about, this is just one more of those things. i touched the floor of the cave and looked around, somehow i could see. i don't try and understand these things i just live with them.

i spread my wings and used them to swim over to the great beast that was now focusing its attention on king sapphire. i could see the beast but there was still no possible way for me to cut through it's armor... but then i got an idea. this thing has nice tough skin on the outside to keep it safe in the lava and protect it. i find it hard to believe his insides are made of the same dense material, i'm sure they're all soft and squishy like everything else. i had an ingenious plan but i need to wait for the right moment.

so i swam around finding the right angle to perform my attack and made sure i had a clear shot. when i found the perfect spot i stood there and waited. i wanted to help king sapphire but he was doing fine on his own, he wouldn't be the king if he couldn't take care of himself. and just as i had hoped my perfect opportunity presented itself. the beast opened its gaping maw and prepared to fire a blast greater than it had before... too bad he doesn't know my plan.

without hesitation i blasted up into the air in a fierce shout with lava surrounding me. i spun and forced the lava right at the great beast. the lava shot out at the beast and flew right down its throat. i kept forcing down as much lava before the beast let out a cry and pulled away. i just floated there with lava dripping off of me and back into the pool while the huge beast thrashed around wildly and roared. a mixture of blood and lava spewed from every orifice of it's body as the lava melted away at its intestines and tissue from the inside. i couldn't help but let out a devious chuckle as the creature suffered.

the beast made one last wail of pain before crashing back into the lava gurgling blood and melted tissue. it slipped backwards into its own crevice and the lava started draining out of the room. once it was all gone the crevice of lava remained and there were still a few puddles of magma here and there but nothing too bad. i smiled and looked back at the king who was shocked to say the least. i flew down to the ground and landed in a deep puddle of lava which didn't seem to burn me still. it was like i had dragonhide instead of skin. the king flew down and landed next to the puddle.

"that was quite impressive... i didn't know you could do that." he said.

"i didn't either... i thought for sure i was dead."

"i didn't want to bring this up out of mutual respect and for the sake of keeping a safe distance from each other." said the king as i walked out of the puddle and we walked over to the door together. "but the high seer of oasis has told me about what you are... and so has celestia."

"have they now..." i said smiling.

"yes they have... and i did not expect that i would be going on a dangerous adventure with a god today..." he said.

"so they told you what i REALLY am not what most ponies think i am." i said. "well i wouldn't say that i fit the title of 'god' just yet... still need to work into it a bit."

"nonetheless you are a god, and i feel honored to be paired with you for this quest." he said bowing his head.

"it's a miracle when a king should bow to somepony else... the poor bow to the rich, the rich bow to the king, and who does the king bow to... the gods i guess..." i said speaking in some kind of riddle i didn't even know i knew. "don't bow to the title... bow to the pony." i said bowing back to the king.

"those are very wise words... i think you'll fit the title of 'god' just fine." he said as we approached the door and stood before it.

"i have strange moments of incredible wisdom sometimes..." i said. "now lets go get this weapon that we've almost died over already... i think there's only two more rooms left... hopefully" i said pushing open the door on my own with some kind of new strength. if he knew i was a god there's no point in hiding it now. my symbols stopped glowing magma red and shone white as did my armor and wings.

"i think after this i could use a rest..." said the king. i smiled back at him in agreement.

"when would you have us go to the dwarven ruins then?" i asked. as we walked down the long hallway.

" the day after tomorrow..." he said. "give the king a day to rest and the god a day to prepare" he said smiling.

"come to think of it, helping you with this war would be massively unfair... and not part of my title." i said.

"what part of the title god prevents you from helping oppressed ponies wage war..." asked the king.

"i'm not just a god... i am the god of balance... i hold power over every aspect and element of existence... or something." i said. "the only reason i am helping you with this war is because you're fighting for freedom, and not over land or money." i said as we pushed onward through the hallway. soon enough the door to the next room came into view. this one was glowing yellow and if i remember it was aligned with the room covered in bee hives and honey combs. great... it's going to be some kind of giant fucking bee. and knowing my luck there are going to be millions of regular sized bee's so i can expect to go home with millions of bumps and stings on my body.

it wasn't too long before the tunnel we were in started taking a new shape and the walls broke down into a beehive like style. there were hexagonal patterns all over the walls and even small hives hanging from the ceiling. i remember when i was young i was deathly afraid of bees. i wasn't allergic but i just didn't like them. then my sister told me that they aren't going to hurt me if i just don't bother them. so i tried it out and i got out of my fear of bees in a day. hell i soon grew to love bees as a kid. most other kids would freak out when they saw a bee and run away but i would let my finger out and the bee would land on it and then fly away.

"hope you aren't allergic." i said as we looked around at the changing hallway and grew closer to the door.

"thankfully i'm not..." he said. "but if this room is anything like the last two rooms then i don't think it'll matter." he said as we walked right up to the door. i took a deep breath and pushed the doors to the next room open. suddenly a swarm of bees flew past us and i fanned my wings out in front of me as a kind of shield. when the swarm was done we looked into the room and started walking in. it was like a huge bee hive. we walked in and started slowly walking forward as the door slammed shut behind us. there were millions and millions of bees flying around and lining the walls. the whole room was alive with the subtle sound of their buzzing. we kept walking slowly and the ground was covered in sticky honey. suddenly i felt a sharp sting on the back on my neck and slapped my hoof down. i let out a little gasp of pain and the king looked over to me.

"did you get stung?" he asked.

"yeah but i don't get it..." i said. "bees don't sting unless you provoke them... and even if i provoked just one, the whole hive would be on me right now." i said. i looked around and i felt something crawling on my armor. i looked down not to see a bee but a mother fucking wasp. it was trying to sting me through my armor and eventually gave up and flew away. and at this not i soon began to notice more and more of them flying around. it was a mixture of bees and wasps. bees i can deal with, but wasps are the ones i have a problem with.

"what is it?" asked the king noticing i was looking around at the wasps flying around with intent. "is there something wrong?"

"not really..." i said. "but look... there are wasps in here too." i said. and as i pointed out that fact he started noticing the wasps flying around and looked around. "these are the ones that will sting without reason... so we're probably going to get stung... i'd keep a shield up." i said as i put up my own body tight shield. he did too and we kept walking. this hive was huge and there were large hexagonal combs in the ceiling and walls that looked like you could drive a truck through them... that was really setting me off. and as we kept walking forward i felt something change... like there was something off, so i stopped and so did the king.

"what's wrong now." he said stopping and looking back.

"something's off." i said as i slowly let tentacles of light rise from my back ready for an attack. i could hear something... a familiar but different sound. "listen." i said as we both grew quiet. the buzzing of the bees was the only thing in the room. but that subtle buzzing soon started to be drowned out by a different noise. it sounded rather like an echo... and it was a loud buzzing with a different frequency. it grew louder and louder and the echo faded. and to my displeasure a handful of large wasps started crawling and flying out of the large honeycombs in the wall. then more and more came out of ever hexagonal comb and they buzzed around. i knew there would be a catch.

they buzzed around frantically and i didn't even have time to bother to think about what they were doing i just got ready to attack. a bunch of them landed on the ground and started crawling towards us. the king drew his sword and got it ready to fight while i was already prepared. one of the wasps in the air dive bombed us but i stopped it with a quick burst of light. it broke apart and landed in front of the swarm of wasps which now charged at us. they stopped short of us and surrounded me and the king. they were in the air and all around us. and more and more just seemed to crawl out of the combs lying around.

"never thought i would go out this way." said the king backing up with his sword held straight... always figured i would die in the thrill of war... not stung to death by giant wasps."

"no... i won't let it end this way." i said thinking of something. i dwelled on every manner of energy i had, every aspect of my power until i found something i had not seen before... some kind of power i didn't know i had. as the wasps grew closer and closer i taped into the well of unknown power and i saw it's secrets.

suddenly i was filled with untold elemental energy and i started shining brightly the purest of white. i let out a deep roar and soon large spikes of ice fired up from the ground underneath the wasps and covered the whole hive around us skewering every wasp on the ground. the next thing i did after that i can only describe as physically impossible. i let out a deep growl as my pure white armor faded to a magma red and i focused my energy. the spikes of ice melted down into magma and flooded the ground. i pulled the magam towards us and shot it up in a tornado of lava. the tornado of lava widened and covered the whole room before fading away and covering everything in magma.

more and more wasps crawled out of their holes and some of them were foolish enough to walk onto the lava not knowing what it is. i turned my attention and gave an angry gaze to the wasps around us. my armor went from red now to a sort of light blue and started sparking. i felt energy build up in me and i let out a battle roar as sparks flew off of my body and soon a large bolt of lightning fired from my chest into the swarm of wasps. the bolt hit one wasp and jumped to every other one after it and so on. with one shot i managed to take down at least 30 wasps.

i kept up my onslaught of elemental rage as i fired spikes of ice from the ground, summoned tornados of fire, shot lightning, froze enemies in their tracks, cause quakes and rifts, even shot up geysers of lava into the air. the king stood behind me in the safety zone i had technically created and he watched in awe as i performed impossible feats of both magic and nature. i kept on my onslaught and kept on killing wasp after wasp for what felt like only minutes to me but what must have been half an hour. and soon there were just no more wasps. there was a lack of corpses because of my use of lava which melted away at them.

when i stopped i finally settled down and went back to glowing just a regular white and using light attacks now. with that burst of elemental energy also came with the knowledge to use it and now i know how to use those attacks i just did. i looked around at the wasteland of death i had created. puddles of magma, torched frozen and skewered corpses, rifts and spikes of earth jetted from the ground, and there were countless corpses laying dead on the ground whether they be froze, burnt, shocked, or mutilated. i started to calm down further and regained my original composure and started breathing more lightly. i let out a deep sigh and took in an equally deep breath of air.

"that was quite the show... there really aren't any words to describe what you just did except impossible." said the king.

"thank you..." i said. "but i don't like taking pride in showing off... i never had." i said standing back up as me and the king made our way past the hollow of corpses and dead wasps. "once again i didn't know i could do any of that... i sort of snapped, and unlocked that new kind of power."

"does that happen often?" asked the king as we made our way closer and closer to the door.

"there is a point of battle that i usually call 'the breaking point' and that was it." i said. "when i fight i don't go all in because i don't want to do more harm than i need too... and usually when the enemy is stronger than me i can't build back up my maximum energy because of the damage i've already taken in battle so i'm still not as strong... but at the one point before i know i might die i somehow manage to tap into my full power and usually it shows me something new... like what i just did."

"hmm... alright then." he said as we stood in front of the door leaving the hive. i pushed the two huge, iron, double doors open and we started making our way into the hallway to the next room and the next challenge. the ground was made of square, stone bricks and was covered in moss and plants sprouting up from the ground. there were vines hanging from the cave walls and ferns tucked away and sprouting in the cracks of the stone bricks. it was so nice and calming now instead of creepy and foreboding like the last three. the only lights left where the two large blue lines running straight through the floor and the green ones carving through the walls.

"so what could be in this next one... it was some kind of nature habitat." i said.

"it could be anything..." he said. "but i wouldn't be too sure it's as easy as the last ones... it's probably only going to grow harder from here." he said making a good point. i kept my guard up even though we weren't in the cave yet. the path to this one was rather short and we found ourselves standing before the green lit door in no time at all. i looked over the door and we both stood before it. i took a deep breath like with the other doors and got ready to open the door. "are you ready?" asked king sapphire.

"yeah..." i said putting my hooves against each door of the next challenge. i leaned forward and put my weight and strength into the doors. the huge double doors flew open to reveal the next room. and it wasn't what i was expecting at all. there were no empty spaces, no monsters or sharp objects. it was simply... beautiful. those might be the only words i can think of to describe the next room. me and the king walked in and we were greeted by bright, almost sun like, light and fresh air. to say the least even i was taken back by this.

the ground was soft and warm. there was no stone or rock, but it was dirt and grass. large looming trees sprouted up all around us. there was just a small patch of grass where we were standing. there was a large waterfall spilling out from the top of the room far away to out right. it broke off into several smaller waterfalls as the walls took on an almost cliff like structure. the whole place was huge too. at least two miles long all around. everything was so green. there were birds, and bugs, and even small animals. it was like paradise but underground. the bright sun like light was coming from a large bright crystal glowing past the waterfall to our right. the air was somehow fresh and not thick like the rest of the cave air.

for the first time the doors didn't slam shut behind us but instead slowly and quietly swung closed. we both just looked around and seemed awestruck. the ceiling was so high you almost couldn't even see it. there were trees everywhere and huge mushrooms, ferns, flowers, and all kinds of other plants. in front of us there were two paths. they were just grass paths where trees and plants don't grow so thickly. i looked over and saw a few humming bird's swarmed around a bushel of bell shaped flowers and sucking out the pollen. the chirping of birds filled the air and it was complemented with the soft crashing of the waterfall. how does a place like this even exist... there has to be some kind of catch.

" there must be a catch..." I said walking forward and feeling the cool damp grass under my hooves, being on the road for so long and in a winter mountain has made me forget how nice the grass feels on my bare hooves. I stopped glowing and relaxed as my armor faded and I was exposed now. " but I can't think of one."

" maybe it's like a maze or something?" Said king sapphire.

" yeah that might be it..." I said. " I think we should take this path here..." I said pointing to the path to our right. The king nodded and we started walking down the grassy path. There was a fallen tree in the way but we just walked over it. This whole place was beautiful, simply beautiful. We walked around and soon enough a low flowing creek cut through the path. It was moving pretty fast but it didn't matter since it was so shallow. We trotted right through it and continued down the path.

We saw birds and squirrels and even a few deer walking around the place. I saw trees and bushes growing rare and exotic fruit that I had only heard of before. I walked over to one tree that was growing a fruit I knew as passion fruit and picked one off the brach. I looked at it and it seemed just fine. I took a bite and it tasted even better. There weren't just passion fruit but dragon fruit, grape fruit, star fruit... And there were straw berry bushes and raspberries. All finds of fruit everywhere. I could live down here with absolutely nothing and be pretty well off.

" are you sure you should be eating that?" Asked king sapphire. " it could be poisoned or something."

" if it was poisoned I would know, and it isn't." I said. " and even if it was and I ate it... It would have to be pretty tough poison to make my stomach even churn just a little... It's fine, try some." I said. He shrugged and reached up to one of the trees and plucked off a star fruit and bit into it. He smiled and at the rest of the fruit. I did the same and we kept walking along and enjoying whatever fruit we came by.

We walked down the path and the next thing we came by was a huge lake that the waterfalls drained into. It wasn't much of a lake rather than a really big pond. There was seaweed at the bottom and some pretty large fish. We stood there and the air soon filled with the sound of singing. It was beautiful and almost mesmerizing. We looked around and followed the singing and to me and king sapphires surprise the next thing we saw was a field of rocky terrain near the waterfall that was crawling with mermaids. Yes... Mermaids.

" my god..." Said the king. " actual mermaids... I never... Never thought I would see them with my own eyes." He said.

" I've had dealing with mermaids before... A while back."

" you have!" He said very surprised looking over to me. " what are they like?" He asked as I looked past him at the mermaids and saw we had grabbed their attention. There must have been at least 15 of them.

" they're interesting creatures..." I said. " they can be tricky and devious, but loving and kind... Just watch yourself around them." I said as I noticed them diving into the water. I followed their shadows and they were swimming right over to us. But they turned to the left and swam over to a group of large rocks over near the shore of the lake. They swam up and climbed rot onto the rocks laying down like how most people or ponies would imagine they would lay down. We both looked over and watched as one of the, with a bluish purple tail and silky black hair beckoned us over. Even though they were just underwater, the mermaids hair looked dry and shiny. They must have some kind of oil that keeps water off... Like a duck or something.

" should we go over?" Asked sapphire.

" sure... They might be able to help us." I said taking a few steps over. We started walking over to the group of mermaids and as we grew closer they started smiling seductively which was throwing me off. I'm not sure it that's just how all mermaids smiled or if they were planning something. We walked over and stood by the jetty of rocks and water and one of the mermaids sort of slithered over using her tail like a snake and crawling along.

" well what do we have here?" She asked looking over the two of us.

" I think they're pony folk." Said one of the mermaids behind the one in front of us. She had a green tail and red hair. She smiled directly at me.

" ah yes... Then pony folk... Land dwellers." She said. " what brings you down into the twilight caverns." She said.

" so the twilight caverns is what you're calling them." I said. " never the less we need to get passed here."

" I am king sapphire... And this is my aid crimson blast... We are here seeking the sword of kings." He said taking charge and stepping forward.

" my apologies your highness." Said the mermaid in a sarcastic sounding tone but still somewhat sinister and sincere at the same time. " whatever can we do off you." She said smiling and bowing a little bit.

" there should be a door at the end of this cavern..." He said. " we need to know how to get to it." He said.

" the door is just down this path... It's a long journey... But I'm sure you can handle it." She said. The king nodded and turned to leave and I did as well. " oh but my king if your going to get through that door you'll need the seasons staff..." She said grabbing our attention.

" and where is that?" I asked turning around and facing them.

" in the center of the twilight caverns... In the garden of eternity... But you'll have to get past the forest guardians to get it." She said. So that's the catch huh.

" where is the garden of eternity?" Asked king sapphire.

"you sure do ask a lot of questions for an all knowing king." She said making the mermaids behind her giggle. " don't you listen... It's in the center of the garden."

" we can just fly up and seek it out." I said spreading my wings.

" won't work." Said the mermaid turning around and bending backwards to look at us.

" what do you mean it won't work?" It asked.

" you can fly up... But the garden is hidden by powerful magic, you won't be able to fly to it or see it from the sky." She said. I didn't believe her. I flapped my wings and flew high up into the air. I started spinning around and looked over the whole landscape for this garden place. There was no sign of some kind of garden of eternity. Just trees and grassy plains. A growled a bit at the inconvenience and flew right back down. I hit the found with force and looked over to the mermaids. The king could easily tell that I had not found anything and that the mermaids were right. " enjoy the view?" She asked making the others giggle.

" where is the way to the garden?" Asked the king.

" we don't know." She said smiling. I just glared at her.

" fine then..." I said. " I think we should head back and try that other path we saw in the start." I said. The king nodded and we walked away as the mermaids dived back down into the walked back past the trees and out of the view of the large lake. We passed by all the familiar fruit trees and I grabbed a fruit from the tree and ate it trying to release some of this stress. It worked pretty well actually and I had forgotten all about the mermaids. We kept walking and I started glowing again and my armor reformed on my body. I kept my guard up knowing there are guardians in this forest.

Soon enough we found ourselves back at the first door we passed through and we looked over to see the other path cutting through the forest and walked over to it. We started walking down the path and into the forest. This area was much thicker than the last one and the trees grew taller here. Other than that it was pretty much the same. Lots of animals and fruit throughout the whole forest and the path was just a clear grass path. The trees cast a cooling shadow and the air was crisp and cool, it was the perfect temperature... Somewhere around 70.

We wandered through the path and it was mostly a straight shot. There were no other paths that branched off from it and not much else around to distract us or pull us off into a different direction. We kept going forward and I noticed that the trees above us started arching over and soon I don't of us there was almost a complete tunnel of trees leading towards a new place. We both noticed this and thought it was strange but continued anyway. We walked up to the brim of the arch and started passing under it. It soon turned out to be longer than I expected as we soon got a better look from inside. It almost seemed to grow once we passed under it.

We kept walking and looked up as the branches above curved over our heads and slid together in place. This didn't look like any kind of creation, but it was natural... The trees decided to grow this way. We kept walking forward and the grass would press down and coil under our hooves as we walked. Soon the light of the other side grew brighter and brighter as we made our way out of the tunnel of trees. I smiled and was about to speak but there was a pound bang. Soon a large beast seemed to fall from out of nowhere and landed right in front of us. It was a huge hulking monster with hatred in its eyes.

It was a Minotaur. A huge bull like monster with a ring through its nose and large horns sticking form the side of its head. It was wearing torn chainmail armor with some kind of torn cloth clothing under it. It was holding a large double edged battle axe that looked like it was made from stone, but just as sharp as steel. It took a deep breath and steam shot from its nostrils. It's flayed tail waved calmly back and forth behind it and its huge hooves left deep imprints in the ground. It had three gold rings pierced through its right ear and its fur was a dark brown... Almost black even.

You have no business here... Leave." He said in a deep booming voice gripping the handle of his axe tightly with both hands.

" I am king sapphire..." Said the king. " we demand to retrieve the seasons staff."

" the minotauren bow to no king..." He said stepping forward a bit trying to ward us back. " you must leave this place... There is nothing here for you."

" we must use the staff to get through the door and retrieve the sapphire sword from the tomb of kings." Said king sapphire. I sat back and watched them argue and bicker. I still had my guard up just in case this got ugly.

" who told you this lie..." Said the Minotaur. " it was the mermaids wasn't it... Those vile wretches." Said the Minotaur putting his ale down and dragging it on the ground. He let out a deep breath. " come... I will explain." He said turning and going down the path. King sapphire looked at me and I just shrugged. I didn't sense any danger but I still didn't put my guard down. We followed the large beast that towered several feet above the both of us. He started leading us down a beautiful garden path with bushes and shrubs and exotic plants instead of a forest.

" is this the garden of eternity?" Asked king sapphire.

" yes... This is the garden of eternity, and the home of the minotauren." He said as we waved through the hedges and plants. As we kept walking I soon started to notice that the garden was instead a maze.

" wait..." I said. " this is a labyrinth." The Minotaur looked back to me and seemed to nod his head in agreement.

" yes... It is the only way to get to the garden of eternity. All minotauren must memorize the paths of the labyrinth and guard it from intruders... Especially those wicked mermaids."

" how can mermaids get to this place?" Asked the king.

" they have some sort of magic about them." Replied the Minotaur. " they have fins but can grow legs when they slither onto land... We call them shore serpents." He said leading us around the maze making turns and twists every here and there. The place was much like a garden though with wide open spaces. But suddenly there was another sound of thundering footsteps as around one of the corners another large Minotaur appeared. It was different than the one we were following however.

This one was more slim and lean than our muscular and hulking guide. It didn't take long to realize this one was a female. She had on striped cloth and chain armor like our guide but of different colors and style. She had full plate shoulder guards that were spiked and curved. She didn't have any horns on her head but a flock of fur that could be taken as hair. She had three gold piercings on one ear and two emerald piercing on the other ear. Her fur was light brown and more silky than the other Minotaur's fur. She held a large plain spear in her hand. On her wrists were golden cuff like bracelets. Her tail swayed gently back and forth behind her and she didn't seem very happy, rather disappointed actually.

" grokk..." She said in a deep but very feminine voice as she seemed to address our guide. I guess his name was grokk. " what are you doing leading these two outsiders through our maze... You aren't planning on bringing them to the garden are you?" She said holding her spear up to grokk ,our guide.

" I am..." He said. " I believe that they can help us get our revenge on the mermaids." He said.

" we must destroy all intruders..." Said the other Minotaur. " now destroy them before I do."

" enough of this Mirra." He said. " they are worthy... Let me pass with them."

" they only want the staff... We cannot trust them."

" let them pass..." Said grokk. He snorted steam from his nostrils and dropped his axe. Mirra the female Minotaur dropped her spear and propped her arms up and snorted out stem too and scraped her hoof on the ground. I don't think I like where this is going. They both had an angry look in their eyes and they stared relentlessly at each other. It was a pretty pointless thing to start a fight over, but for the sake of making a bad pun, they are pretty bull headed. And soon enough they charged at each other.

They clashed and both stopped at an equal force and locked hands. They pushed and pulled on each other and soon our guide grokk threw Mirra to the ground. Mirra swept his legs and he fell. She moved on top of them and they went at it like two bulls... Literally. They back up only to charge again. They wrestled and wrestled on the ground as me and the king backed up so we didn't get squashed in case they decided to roll over onto us. This had escalated pretty quickly and they went at it like enemies even though they are the same race.

Grokk sat behind Mirra keeping her in a choke hold but she reached back and grabbed his horns. She rolled forward and pulled grokk with her. She was laying on top of him now and they locked hands again. They both pushed back and charged again. They both met with equal force and met in a stalemate. They both gripped each others hands and pushed trying to knock the other one back. They kept this up for a while breathing deeply and snorting out steam. This was obviously a waste of time and did not help us in any way. King sapphire looked back at me with a bit of a bored face and he glanced at me.

" you wouldn't mind stopping this, would you?" He asked. I smiled and started to take a few steps forward.

" I was just about to." I said. I took a few steps forward and stood before the two large beasts as they fought to prove some kind of superiority. I looked over at them and spoke up. " HEY!" I said in a loud voice. It obviously wasn't loud enough for them to hear over their own hearts beating and their heavy breathing and thrashing. " HEY," I said again but louder this time. Still no response. "STOP NOW!" I said in a deep demonic voice that boomed over the whole cave and frightened every single creature in the forest. It even blew the trees back and might have deafened a few small animals in the process. This of course grabbed their attention as the force of my shout actually pushed them back away from each other.

" do not intervene pony..." Said grokk.

" you have some nerve, intruder." Said Mirra. " once I'm done with this pitiful fool I'll take care of you and the other one." She said. She ran back at grokk and he did the same.

" NO YOU WON'T." I said in a loud voice again. Chains of black shadows fired up from the ground and my armor turned a deep black and my eyes glowed a soulless black. It had been a while since I decided to use my dark side. The chains shot up from the ground and broke through and wrapped around each of them. They stopped them in their tracks and pulled them down to their knees. I spread my wings which were covered in black shadow like smoke and floated up to the two of them who were only feet apart. " I am going to take care of this... And I'm doing it my way..." I said.

" what demon are you." Said Mirra.

" demon is the wrong title..." I said. " now... You two are going to stop fighting, NOW. and bring me and king sapphire to the garden of eternity... I do not wish to hurt anypony... But I will not stand by as things fly out of control." I said. The female Minotaur struggled to get free of the chains but it was no use. Grokk accepted his restraints and just watched knowing this wasn't a trap. Eventually after a bit of struggling pointlessly Mirra let out a deep sigh of defeat.

" fine..." She said. I smiled and released the chains and they burst into smoke and vanished. I floated back down to the ground and my original bright white glow returned and covered the darkness. " I will let you pass to the garden of eternity... Maybe grokk will be right this time... But I'm watching you." She said getting up with grokk and me and king sapphire returned behind grokk as he took the lead through the maze. We passed by Mirra who glared at us and followed from behind. We continued winding down the maze. And soon enough we came through an opening to what I had to guess was the garden of eternity.

It was a large open circle surrounded in a circle of tall green hedges. There was a small pond in the middle of the whole thing and in the pond was a small island with a large rock on it. In the rock was a staff. It had a rose stem shaft with a etched out snowflake inside an outline on the sun. That must be the seasons staff. Around the lake were beds of flowers and trees and all kinds of exotic plants and trees. It was probably the most impressive feat of nature I've ever seen in my life. We stepped inside and looked around. Grokk and Mirra stood on the sides of us.

" now that you have seen the garden of eternity it's time for you to leave." Said Mirra.

" but we need the seasons staff to unlock the doors to the tomb of kings." Said king sapphire.

" you never said anything about taking the staff." She said getting defensive and leaping out in front and pulling her spear up on guard. " you cannot take the staff... I won't let you." She said rearing her spear up and snorting steam from her nostrils.

" calm down Mirra..." Said grokk. " they aren't going to take the staff... It would be useless to them." He said. I seemed confused but he turned around and faced us. " the mermaids told you that..."

" the mermaids..." Said Mirra alertly as she cut off grokk. " they're working with the mermaids."

" no were not." I said. She seemed to take reason to my voice possibly fearing I would start shouting again.

" the mermaids have tricked them." Said grokk. " they sent them here to take the staff and destroy the garden."

" we weren't going to destroy the garden... We just wanted the staff." Said king sapphire.

" and in taking the staff you would destroy the garden of eternity... The staffs power is what's keeping this place alive." Said grokk. " the minotauren and the mermaids have been at war since the beginning. They tricked you into thinking the staff would open the door to the outer world, but it doesn't."

" so can we just go through the door." Asked the king.

" no... It is true that you do require a key to the door but it is not the staff." He said. " each of our sides has a power that fuels us. The staff keeps the garden alive and thriving. And the mermaids have their own weakness, the rivers pride. It's what keeps water flowing through the twilight caverns. Unfortunately we need water too, but the mermaids wouldn't be affected if all the plant life and animals on the surface withered and died... And that's what they are trying to do."

" so where is this key you spoke of." Asked the king

" the mermaids have it... It used to lie in the circle of growth, outside of the garden... But they stole it in hopes it would give them an edge in our war... It hasn't done much... I can see now how they could trick adventurers like yourselves into doing their work in exchange for the key." Said grokk

" I hate to ask..." Said Mirra. " but it would be a grand effort in this war if you would assist us."

" we'll as long as they have the key I don't see a reason not to." Said the king.

" so you will do this for us?" Asked grokk. Me and king sapphire both looked at each other with an equal expression of understanding, we both knew it was the only way forward.

" yes we will." Said king sapphire. " we won't ask for anything in return except the use of the key so that we can unlock the door... You can have it back afterwards." He said. The two Minotaur's smiled.

" it's a deal." Said Mirra. We both smiled. We agreed to head out to the lake again and Mirra and grokk lead us out of the maze and back down through the tunnel of tree limbs and branches. This whole thing is taking far too long and it must be well past noon already. We kept walking and we all left the garden and the tunnel of trees to enter the rest of the cave. We started walking down the path and found the door to the entrance again. We wade down the other path to the lake and the mermaids. Soon enough we grew close to the lake but still out of view. I stopped and so did the others... I had a plan.

" what is it." Asked king sapphire.

" I have a plan." I said.

" well... Lets hear it sorcerer." Said Mirra.

" first, you and grokk should stay back and and keep out of sight so they don't get thrown off when they see you." I said the two Minotaur's nodded in agreement. " and I think I should go alone." I said.

" why... I can help you." Said king sapphire.

" but can you breathe underwater?" I asked him. He stopped.

" that's true...," he said. " you're the only one who can go through with this really."

" so what is you're plan once you go." Asked grokk.

" first I'm going to earn their trust and seem like I'm still on their side. I'll criminalize you as the enemy and lie about being overpowered by the minotauren... I'll ask for help and hopefully they'll bring me to their palace or whatever they have. Once their trust is earned I will destroy them."

" I like that plan." Said Mirra smiling.

" alright... You go." Said king sapphire. " me and the Minotaur will stay up here and keep out of sight... Good luck." He said. I smiled and nodded. I turned around and started walking down the path again. There was still some path between being seen by the lake and where I just left. When I was out of the vow form everyone I decided to take things a step further and make it look convincing. What I did next I'm not too happy to have done but I was in hardcore mode now... Learned all of this stuff in advanced marine training.

I used my magic to summon a sharp knife and kept it at my side. I started tearing apart my armor like I had been battle worn. I stuck my hoof and rubbed it around in the ground and grabbed some dirt. I started rubbing it on myself making it seem like I had been thrown around. I also started hitting myself in certain places to create instant bruises. I took the knife... And started slashing myself... Nothing serious. A few cuts here and there. I had to grit my teeth to keep from gasping out In pain. After that I let the knife disappear and I was all battle wounded... It looked very convincing if I say so myself.

With that unfortunate scene done i kept going forward and faked a limp to make it seem even more convincing. So I faked a limp all the way down the rest of the path and to the clearing of the lake. I walked over and looked around. There were no signs of mermaids but I knew they were there and probably watching. I limped my way over to the jetty of rocks that we met at the first time and grew closer and closer. And to my luck the mermaids spouted up from the water and crawled up onto the large rocks and smiled at me. They didn't seem mad that I didn't have the staff. I walked over and stood before them as the mermaid from before with the black hair spoke up.

" look at you..." She said. " mr. Tough guy... I did forget to mention the slight detail of the maze..." She said.

" and the Minotaur's." I said glaring at her.

" I said there would be guardians." She said.

" you didn't mention a horde of them." I said.

" speaking of which... Where is his royal highness." Asked one of the mermaids behind the first one.

" we got separated in the maze... He's most likely dead." I said. " and as you can see I still don't have what I need."

" ah yes the staff..." Said the black haired mermaid. " well since we're so kind enough to help you as much as we did, I suppose we could help you further... Come, swim with us in the lake." She said as she and the other mermaids sliced back into the water and floated near the top beckoning me in. I limped across the jetty of rocks and slipped into the water.

I sunk down under the water and took a deep breath and let the water clean my self inflicted wounds and cuts. The mermaids surprisingly swam down to me and smiled. The lake was pretty deep near the edge but it didn't take me long to sink down to the bottom and brush my hooves against the sandy bottom of the lake. I took in another breath and let my lungs fill with water. I breathed out but instead of air coming out it was just water. I wasn't pulling oxygen from the water but I was breathing the water instead, just like the mermaids were. They swam over and circled around me smiling.

" breathing underwater are we." Said the black haired mermaid. " that's a nifty trick... Makes our job much easier to... Come with us, we can go to the city and find you some help... My father should be able to help you." She said as she started to swim away and her group of mermaids followed her. I did the same and swam with them using my wings. I could swim through the water and flap my wings so easily with was pretty much just like flying, but with less gravity. I swam with them and we came to a large tunnel just above us on the ground being hidden by the waterfall.

They swam up and crawled up onto the edge of the cave and their fins and tails glowed brightly and separated and changed into appendages. They were almost completely human now... Except for the gills. But this seemed to astound me but I knew i could easily change into a human as well, but I don't want to give that away yet. I crawled up onto the edge of the cave and climbed into the cave and coughed out water as air filled my lungs again. I looked over at the mermaids and they were now all completely naked and sitting down on rocks waiting for me to stop coughing up water.

" are you ready?" Asked the black haired mermaid.

" ready for what?" I asked in confusion. This cave didn't seem to go anywhere and had a visible end that I could see from here.

" well first we need to heal those wounds and fix you up... And me and my girls know just how to do that." She said with a sinister smiled as she got up with the others and they walked over to me. I backed up a bit and my ears fell to my side. I went to take another step back but my hoof slipped on the edge of the cave and I almost fell in again. Before I could move they grabbed me and pulled me into their cluster of naked bodies and laid me down on the somewhat warm and comfortable cave floor as they surrounded me.

Oh crap... Not this again.

-Authors Note: sorry to keep you guys waiting on some of this stuff, but i'm starting to burn myself out. i need to take a break... so i will. im going to take the next week off to relax and take a break. and i cant promise you guys an update every day now. i can try and do one every other day but its getting harder. i hope you guys saw my other new story and have checked it out. i'll be writing that one every now and then in my spare time. so stay safe, stay sober... and all that stuff, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	32. Chapter 32: The Lost Tomb

I laid on my back surrounded by the mermaids as the sat down around me and put their hands on me. to say the least this was very uncomfortable for me and I was already sweating and shaking. One of them rubbed their hand across a cut on my chest and as it passed over the wound healed up and looked fine. I looked down in surprise and the mermaid who healed me smiled. Soon enough the rest of them began healing my wounds and fixing my cuts and bruises. And soon enough I was healed.

" uhm... Thank you." I said.

" no problem adventurer." The black haired mermaid said. She smiled seductively at me and placed her hand on my lower chest. She slowly started sliding her hand down closer and closer to my crotch and soon enough she had me by the balls, so to speak. She started rubbing my groin area and I already knew this was going to be bad. I tried to move but I soon felt all my joints and muscles had gone numb. Shock at this I looked around to see that the mermaids had some kind of gel on their hands.

" crap... I shouldn't have fallen for that." I said.

" paralyzingly gel... Perfectly fine on skin contact... But not when it enters the bloodstream." She said smiling as she continued to massage my lower regions until my cock grew longer and thick as it slid out of its sheath. She held my shaft in her hand and slowly started rubbing it up and down. I tried to move but that paralyzingly gel was strong stuff. And since I didn't know it was happening I didn't have time to prepare for it... Now I'm helpless, I don't want to hurt them just yet, I need to keep my cover.

" I have a feeling there's no city." I said.

" it's more of a town actually." Said the black haired mermaid. They all gathered around me as the black one molested my cock. I was so much smaller compared to them. I wasn't at my full height and they just gathered around me like I was some kind of pet... I can't let these things keep happening to me. Once my dick was fully erect the black haired mermaid crawled on top of me and let it rest up against her stomach letting it cover her private area.

" so there is a city, or town as you say..." I said starting to feel the effects

Of the neurotoxin wear off and my limbs start to regain feeling. " we'll good then..." I replied, and without getting pulled into a trap now I closed my eyes and thought hard. I shone brightly and in a flash of light I teleported away and back into the water below and soon I was covered in water again. I began sinking down to the bottom of the lake and I took in a deep breath letting water flood back into my lungs. I felt my limbs grow tighter until I was able to move once again. A spread my wings and started to gain control.

I spun around and aligned myself in the water. I swam around and started looking for any kind of entrance or tunnel into this town of theirs but I couldn't find anything. The bottom of the lake was lined with large rocks, coral, and seaweed. There were fish swimming around in droves and schools all a different style and color, but the seaweed and the coral couldn't hide anything from me, but they weren't hiding anything in the first place. And soon enough there was a splash in the surface as the group of mermaids soon swam back down and spotted me. I glared at them and started to glow brightly as my armor reappeared on me and I got ready to fight if I have to. The water around me boiled as light tore through the glimmering water.

" woah take it easy there stallion." Said the black haired mermaid. " I get why you might be mad, but you can't blame us for trying."

" yes I can..." I said. " if you wanted to take advantage of me like that, then you shouldn't have healed me..."

" we'll now that you're healed you can get going..." She said.

" oh no I can't." I said. " not until you give me the key to the door."

" what key... We told you where it is, the garden of eternity." She said still keeping a calm composure.

" that was a very clever lie... I spoke with the Minotaur's, they told me everything, and I think I trust them more than you conniving mermaids, now bring me the key." I said. The black haired mermaid started to laugh while the others behind her seemed a bit worried.

" and what are you going to do?" She asked. " kill us?"

" I just might." I said.

" and then what... The entrance to our kingdom is hidden and you won't be able to find it without a mermaids help."

" so now it's a kingdom?" I said.

" yes, and I am the kings daughter... Killing me wouldn't make a very good impression on his highness." She said. " and you wouldn't want us to use these." She said as she and the other mermaids put their hands on their necklaces they were all wearing. They had small crystals on them that glowed lightly and they pulled them off. " that wouldn't be good for your health." She said.

" really..." I said. " and what exactly will those do?" I asked.

" watch." She said. She and the other mermaids glassed their gems tight and held them close to their chest. They began to glow and seemed to change, it bought they themselves were changing but instead they were just growing armor. Huge crystal armor soon cover their bodies. Large chest plates, with fin like coverings for their tails which still gave them great mobility and flexibility. They whisked their arms to the side and from their hands shot a large crystal which sharpened into weapons, spears, staffs, bows, and swords. The black haired mermaids hard shot out a crystal from her grasp and it soon thinned out and sharpened into a crystal sword. I stood there watching, somewhat impressed.

" so you can grow armor and weapons... Good for you." I said. " I've already learned that trick, besides..." I said getting in a momentary pause to attack as I reared up like I was standing and kept flapping my wings to level me out in the water. " my armor is better." I said getting ready to attack. " now, bring me to the city and give me the key." I said. And then suddenly an arrow shot from between the group of mermaids and flew at me. It was a crystal arrow that shattered the second it impacted with my armor. The other mermaids launched at me and surrounded me.

One of them jabbed her spear at me which also broke on impact. She pulled her broken crystal spear back and rejoined the swarming mermaids in pink crystal armor. A few more arrows shot out at me and broke when they hit my armor. For a good minute they swarmed me and hit me over and over just to have their weapons shatter over my armor. Then suddenly one arrow fired from the swarm and struck me in the neck where my armor didn't show. It pierced straight through my neck and I started gagging a bit as I started to sink down in the water. The mermaids regrouped in a cluster and watched me choke and sink as blood started mixing in with the water.

My choking and gagging soon slowly turned into laughter and I began to laugh like it was a funny joke. Blood continued to spurt from my neck as I reached up and grabbed the crystal arrow. I pulled in from my neck and tore a lot more flesh going out than in. More blood spurted out but it soon helped and closed up. The mermaids looked at me with concern and fright as they noticed the wound close and blood stop flowing into the water. I kept laughing as I glared at the group of mermaids and smiled sinisterly.

" my turn." I said. I let out a roar that shook the water as several sharp spikes of light fired from my back and curved around, heading towards the group of mermaids. They tried scrambling away but I curved the spikes and skewered each and every one of them. I actually stabbed them all through the neck and they choked and started clasping their necks in pain and distress. I watched each one clamor for life but then fall limp as the life they tried to hold onto drained from their bodies. I could feel my energy and power rise slightly as their souls left their body and started draining into me. Each one was dead, except for the black haired one, the kings daughter. I had trapped her in a spheres of tentacles and her dead friends. She wasn't air mor concerned now.

" you can't get into the city..." She said now in a desperate voice trying to convince me my efforts are in vain. " the magic around it protects it from intruders, only merfolk can get in."

" well have I got a surprise for you." I said now teeming with the most brilliant an I've had all day, this was going to be fun." It was just like my earlier plan to fake injury, but far more extreme, a lot more fun, and a lot less painful, but I feel like I might regret this. I looked over to one of the mermaids dead friends hanging from my spikes of light. I picked out the one with the bow that shot me and I began glowing a bright white. My body began to shift and change and sure enough... I had taken a new form. As the light faded my new form became clear and the kings daughter was now scared for her life and probably scared too.

I now had a bright, sea green fin with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. I had light skin and a thin figure, and also I was a woman. It was a very different feeling than what I'm used to and it was by strange, on top of being a mermaid now. I took in a deep breath and breathing in water as a mermaid was much more different than before. It was just like breathing in air where as before it was like I was really breathing in the water, I guess these new lungs of mine are used to it.

" so..." I said with a new voice as well. It was light and feminine and as low sweet and caring, it made me smile. " where is this kingdom of yours?" I asked. I looked T her until something caught my eye behind her. I swam a bit to the side with ,somehow, perfect control of my new form. As i looked past her I saw a small opening in the cave wall that wasn't there before. She knew I could see it.

" only mermaid eyes can see the entrance... Please, let me go." She said.

" I'm afraid I can't do that." I said holding up one more spike. She tried to let out a scream but I thrust the spike through her stomach and she sputtered out in pain. She spit up a mouthful of blood and soon fell limp as she died. I didn't care room ugh for mermaids anyway. I let all the bodies fall to the floor of the lake except for the one I had taken control of. I swam over to the body and grabbed the necklace from her. I tore it off her and used it on myself. Soon my body began to glow and bright pink armor shone on me.

Again though I will have to fake an injury. So I used my magic to just cut a few nicks and cut into me and break off some of the armor. I looked back down to the dead body of the girl I had taken the form of. I can't have two of her, especially if one is dead. I brought my hand down and placed it on her head. It felt almost unreal to have hands again, though its not the same feeling when they aren't yours. I used a bit of my darker magic to make the body instantly decompose and crumble to ash. The ash mixed with the sand and water and she was gone. A darker part of my mind was taking over and I had a diabolically ingenious plan.

I looked over to the hole in the lake wall and swam over to it. I placed my bow on my back and quickly started swimming over. I was going to have fun with this. I looked through the hole in the cavern wall and it was a long narrow tunnel. I started swimming through it quickly and it seemed to stretch on and on. It opened up a bit wider and soon there was a light at the end. I enhanced my vision to see an entire underwater city in there. As I grew closer I noticed two guards standing at attention with their backs turned I stopped and got ready for my little play. I was bleeding into the water and looked injured enough that it was believable I survived. I soon started swimming faster towards the guards almost crying... Fake tears of course.

" HELP..." I screamed in my new voice catching the guards attention. They looked back and pulled their spears up at first but lowered them when they saw me. "OH GOD HELP!" I yelled one more time swimming right into the guard and grabbing him like he would protect me from the evil beast that wasn't real.

" Venus...?" Said the guard. " what... What happened? Who did this?"

" some... Some intruder... He was too strong." I said balling my eyes out but laying inside.

" Venus..." Said the other guard coming over and pulling me off the first one. The guards were wearing bright white armor with huge trident spears. " where in Occillia" asked the guard looking at me. I didn't respond but put on a face of true regret knowing that must be the kings daughter. " where is she Venus?" Asked the guard one more time. I looked at him with my watering eyes and fear and terror spread over his face. " oh god help us..." He said " you bring her to king mineas, NOW. I'll rally the troops and go deal with this evil beast." He said with vengeance in his eyes.

" come with me Venus... The king will want to talk to you." Said the other guard as he guided me along with him. I kept up the innocent victim act as the guard looked onward cursing whatever beast could do this in his own head. He looked down at me and tried to comfort me by telling me things like, ' you're safe now' and ' we'll get you all patched up' but if only he knew. I kept that thought in the back of my head as we went through the streets filled with worried mermaids as droves of guards would swim by armed to the teeth with weapons.

We kept swimming up a large path leading up to a huge Romanian style castle. It had huge pillars and domes all over the place with generic undersea decorations. We swam up to the large open arched fence and passed under it. Just then overhead a saw a small merman swim by at incredible speeds over head past us form the other side of the kingdom and swim right into a large opening to the kingdom. We started swimming up to that opening when the whole kingdom was flooded with a devastating cry of misery.

" NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!" Shouted a deep voice as the messenger from before when tumbling out the window and regained his composure next to us. He looked at the guard and the guard looked back.

" he... Uh. The princess didn't make it." Said the messenger. This seemingly brought a tear to the guards eye as he nodded the messenger to be off. When he was gone we floated back up to the opening and looked in the room. It was a huge hall with large pillars and ornaments and decorations. It was a throne room, from what I can tell, seeing as there was a large throne at the end of it. And in the center of the room was a steaming mad merman larger than every other merman swinging a large trident.

" RRAGH." He shouted in anger and he swung his trident and a bolt of lightning fired from it and blew a hole in the wall. He was large with a green tail and long white hair with a short white stubble on his face. He looked rather old but he had large muscles and was obviously very powerful. And on his head rested a large golden and ruby embezzled crown. " this can't be." He shouted destroying his throne room. " not my daughter... Not her... RAGH." He shouted one last time smashing clean through a large marble pillar with his bare fist. Once his anger was gone he dropped the trident and floated back in his throne and rested his head in his hands almost like he was crying.

From out of the corner a mermaid swam over to the king all dressed up in jewelry with a tiara on her head. She swam over and sat down on the kings lap and held him and comforted him. I could tell she was the queen, and she was starting to shed a few tears as well. I was already starting to feel bad about this. Dammit... I fucked up again. Don't worry... Don't worry, I can fix this... I can fix this. I just need to get the key first.

"Your highness." Said the guard sheepishly as he and I slowly began approaching the king. I started to calm down a bit but remained with a downtrodden and misery stained look. The king lifted his head and looked over at us with anger in his eyes. That anger soon washed away as he laid his eyes on us and he seemed sorry. He got up off his throne and swam over and floated in front of us.

" oh god... You poor thing, Venus are you alright?" Asked the king. I just nodded sheepishly.

" I'm sorry..." I said in her voice with remorse, some of it real as I was a bit sorry. It's not too often that the darker confines of my mind escape and wreak havoc like this.

" it's not your fault," he said placing a hand on my shoulder. " you tried to protect them, I know you did... I'm sorry that this happened to you," he said looking over to two other mermaids who had swam in. " please, heal her and patch her up." Said the king to the two other mermaids. They swam over and the king passed me off to them. We swam off together and down a long narrow and curved hallway. As we walked down the hallway I got a fleeting sense of something strange.

We kept swimming down and I directed my head in the direction of the feeling and as we swam down the hall one large open doorway presented itself. As we swam past I looked in and saw a large circular seal floating above a pillar. It wasn't the animal seal but the other kind. It was large and round with an insignia in the middle. It was a pair of crossed swords underneath a crown. And above the crown was a blue diamond, that must be the key. I looked at it wi great ambition until we passed it by and it was hidden from view and I returned to my hoax.

Lucky for me we took a turn into a room right next to the room with the seal in it. The two nurse mermaids swam me over to a bed and laid me down. They grabbed some strange ointment and started smearing it over my wounds after they pulled my crystal off and the armor vanished. The ointment covered my wounds and seeped into my skin as the wounds started to close rapidly. Soon within a few minutes I was healed and the nurses cleaned their hands and left the room. They gave me a little smile and told me to wait here.

Once they were gone a let a smile spread across my face and got up. I concentrated and started glowing again as my whole figure went white. I soon started shifting and changing back to my normal form. I did make myself a bit bigger I think though, but I'm sure it's fine. Once the transformation was down I stretched out my old body and my wings and cracked my neck. I took in a deep breath but there was already water in my lungs. I let out a soft moan like I was waking up and soon my armor appeared on my body.

I turned to the wall to the other room and started walking towards it. Once I met the wall I started to walk right through it. Just passing through the wall like a ghost and soon I was in the other room. The large key still floating above the pillar and glowing slightly. I quickly walked over to the key and grabbed it. I picked it up off the pillar and expected something bad to happen like a trap or an alarm, but there was nothing. I just shrugged and aced the seal at my side and magically fastened it to my side. I smiled and walked over to the open doorway.

I leaned out and looked around to see if anyone was coming but the hall was empty. The guards have all went to the outer lake and maybe the surface and have started hunting down whoever might have done this... Crap. The Minotaur's and the king are up there. I'm sure they're fine, but I should hurry up just in case. I cloaked myself and became invisible as I spread my wings and quickly swam down the hall. I sneaked my way down the hall and out of the castle through an area of open pillars so I wouldn't have to pass by the king.

I swam down and just started swimming down through the streets, everywhere was the streets. There were merpeople swimming around all around, above and below. It was an open sea and infinite space to roam. So I swam through the water trying my best not to give myself off and bump into any merpeople. But that didn't last too long. I saw one merman swimming over to my left as he seemed to come out of nowhere. I swerved around and dodged him but I swam right into a drove of guards. I bumped into the front guard as he stumbled back into his buddies and I decloaked... Aw, fuck.

" hey wa-" he said before pausing at my sight. I was a large pony with wings and white glowing armor. My armor is spiked, I have a hood and torn cape as well as a metal fang toothed skull mask covering my face from view and an array of deadly weapons. The guards all looked at me with horror and confusion. " what the hell..." Said the guard as he eyed me over, then he noticed the key at my side. I could tell he had seen it and just bolted off using my wings to swim quickly and my magic to give me a boost. Without a doubt they started chasing me.

I swam quickly through the water and as I swam I noticed one guard swam rapidly under me and swam past me. He was rather smaller and didn't have any heavy armor. He was probably a scout going out to tell of the news to his other friends. And so he did. As I grew closer to the exit of the cave I noticed that all the guards were now swarming around the exit of the cave to block me. I lit up and burst into a bolt of power. I rocketed towards them and broke right through. The power faded and I looked back at the mess... And boy was there a mess.

Torn and shattered bodies floating in the water. The red blood mixing in with the atmosphere and organs and limbs floating around corpses. Bodies were burnt around their wounds and cauterized. Bones were broken and limbs have been lost. I cringed a bit and kept swimming away as more and more guards swam after me. I rapidly swam down the large open tunnel and passed by several more guards and kept whirling by them.

I kept swimming down the tunnel until the exit soon came into view. I swam faster and faster and broke through and burst out into the open area of the lake. I quickly looked around and saw that there were guards everywhere out here. They soon took note of me and charged at me. I quickly dashed off to the side and swam around using counter maneuvers to dodge the guards. After a bit of swimming and dodging I had a straight shot to the surface, so I took it. I fired off to the surface and came close to breaching it until something caught my eye. It was the corpses of the mermaids, laying down in stone beds with swords in their hands, posed like true warriors.

I remembered killing them in detail and my heart started to sink. I said I would fix this and intend to. I quickly bolted down to the left and over to the bodies and swam over to them. I put up a shield so I would not be disturbed and the guards crashed around the shield and swarmed it. I sank down to the floor of the lake and looked at the bodies laying peacefully. Knowing that I did this started to make my heart sink.

I took a deep breath and healed their bodies to full health, but they were still dead. I concentrated even more and focused on the mermaids. Even the mermaid I took the form of started to glisten and reappear. The guards outside looked in with incredible interest. I started glowing and the water around me began to boil as the souls of the seven mermaids started to drain from my body and flow back into the water with the bodies close by. There were flares of light that tore through my shield and broke it, but the guards stayed away. Soon the area around me was engulfed in a large ball of light.

The light shone brightly and lit up the whole lake. Soon a stock of swirling lit started growing form the ball of light and reached up and out of the lake causing the cavern to light up even brighter. The souls of the mermaids swirled around me and I released them to join their bodies. They whisked around the guards and the bodies as wisps and floated around. They all dove up high into the air and crashed down into their respective bodies. Soon the light faded and life had returned to the bodies of the mermaids as they sputtered to life and slowly rose form their stone funeral beds.

" my god!" Said one of the guards. They all had an equal expression of shock on their faces. Without hesitation I began to glow and I a large bang and a burst I was gone and back to the surface. I coughed up the water in my lungs and filled my chest with air now instead of water. I shook off all the water on me and slowly looked around. The surface area was calm and peaceful, like none of this had happened. I took one step and noticed something was off. I looked to my side and the key wasn't strapped to my thigh anymore... Damnit.

I went to turn around and just as I did the water began to ripple and quake and churn. Soon a whirlpool opened up in the water but instead of going down the water rose up in a large spiraling spout of water. Soon a large merman emerged from the spout of water. It was the king. He had his trident in one hand and the key in his other hand. I looked at him without emotion and glared at him.

" I think you have dropped this." Said the king tossing the key down onto the ground from up on top of his large water spout. I was confused as the key hit the ground and laid in front of me. I looked down at it and it wasn't a trick, then I looked back up at him.

" why...?" I asked.

" I don't know what you are, or what you seek in the tomb of kings, and I don't care. But thank you... For returning my daughter to me." He said. He must not know that I was the one who actually killed her, but I don't care if he's giving me the key. " take it and go stranger." He said as he recorded back into the water. I grabbed the key and hitched it to my side as i looked down into the water of the lake, I couldn't see anything but it made me smile nonetheless. I stepped back a few feet from the water and turned back to the open forest.

I headed back into the forest and slowly started trotting through the forest. I could feel a pain riding through me from having given up those souls but soon the pain subsided and I kept walking through and soon I got to the spot where they should be waiting for me, they might have gotten bored and headed back to the garden. As I took one step I felt something squish under my hoof. I looked down to see I had stepped on a large reddish fruit. It stuck to my hoof and I scraped it off. Next I saw an arrow drawn in the dirt pointing to a tree. I looked over to the tree and there was a message.

" crimson, gate of kings." It said carved into the tree. I smiled and turned around and started walking back down the path. I grabbed a star fruit from the trees and started eating it down since I was hungry and tired, it perked me up instantly. When I got to the lake I quickly rushed past it out of some kind of embarrassment. I quickly rushed past and ran into the next leg of the path. This was a whole new path but still similar in design and part of the environment.

As I walked the road cut off as there was a large running stream flowing through the path. It continued on the other side down the road. I walked over to the water and took a few steps in it. It felt nice and cool, considering I was just underwater. The water in that lake was salt water though, so I'm all gross and sticky. This water is somehow fresh, I'm sure it doesn't flow from the lake since there were no run offs that I could see. It was the coldest water I've ever felt but it was nice.

I stood in the water and let it pound and flow against my hooves and I leaned down and put my snout into the water. I drank from the river and the water was very refreshing and cooling. I drank some more from the water and just submerged my whole head in for a minute and pulled it back out. My head was wet and so was my mane. My armor, instead of being bulking and bright, seemed to calm down and stop glowing. It was now just glistening white chainmail armor. It had smooth shoulder pads and a large cross shaped plate on the front. It was white and shimmered in the light.

I took in a deep breath and let out a nice cool breath of air. I felt my darker side now receding back and my more benevolent side returning to light. One thing about having death and darkness both in me is that I have quite the nasty dark side. The way I see it is that I have two modes, one control over the elements of light and life, my good side, the side I normally have shown. And then there are the elements of darkness and death, which make up my dark side. I have complete control over my actions when in both forms but they change my moral code and my way of thinking a bit. The rest of the elements are just there and I use them despite my mental alignment.

I took another big drink of water and started heading across the large creek. It was rather deep and got up to my knees but I pushed through it. It wasn't a very raging river, it was rather calm but still pushed me a bit. Once I got out and my hooves touched down on the grass of the path I shook my head out and my mane but it was still rather wet. It just hang around my head not footing in a nonexistent breeze. I started walking again and trotted down the path to the door.

As I turned a corner it wasn't long before the door came into view. It was a large door with fancy depictions on it. The whole thing was made of intron and had one huge ass lock on it. It had the perfect shape of the crest I was carrying or the key, or seal... Whatever it is. The big round thing goes in the iron slot and the door opens... Anyway, I also noticed king sapphire, Mirra and grokk sitting near the gate as king sapphire. Trotted around and was pacing back and forth. As I grew closer they noticed me and smiled upon my return.

" did you have any luck stranger?" Asked Mirra.

" did you find the key?" Asked king sapphire.

" did you kill many mermaids." Asked grokk.

" yes, yes, and yes." I said reaching around to the key which I proceeded to hold up before them. " here is the key." I said. They all looked at the key and smiled.

" great... Lets get going." Said the king as I soon joined the group and we stood in front of the door. We looked up and I held the key tightly in my hoof. I walked up to the door and held the key in front of the hole to get a picture. I moved forward and placed the key in the lock and pressed it in. It sunk in and the door began to shift and whir to life. The huge metal pars started sliding out of place and into the walls around the door.

Cylinders and gears on the front of the door started turning and shifting. Chains and gears pulled and turned causing more iron bars and locks to crash out of place and shift positions. Large iron rods turned out of locked position, whoever built this door really didn't want any pony getting in. The gears were huge and the whole door was made of solid iron and think as a tree. It didn't have any real plating on it, and you could see almost all the inner workings of the door and the locks. The key started to turn until it was on its side and the door made on last crash as it shoved forward a little and then slowly started to open up.

The doors slid open slowly and as they did the next room was revealed to us. It wasn't much of a room, but more like a large and steep staircase. Here were blue fire torches that began lilting up the path down the staircase and they gave off a lot of light. I turned over to the two Minotaur's and they smiled at the sight, then they turned to us and smiled as they bowed a bit. Me and the king bowed right back.

" we must thank you two." Said grokk.

" yes, even though our war will still rage on, at least you've helped bring us peace of mind." Said Mirra. " thank you adventurers, I was wrong about you two. I hope you find whatever your looking for."

" and our thanks as well." Said the king.

" yes, without you we wouldn't have been able to progress." I said smiling. We all thanked each other and me and king sapphire got ready to descend into the tomb of kings. We took our first steps and Mirra and grokk stayed behind and waved us goodbye. As we passed behind the door and took our first steps on the stairs the door started to slowly shut behind us. It closed and blocked out the fresh air and the light of the previous cavern and two friends whom we may never see again. Once the door fully shut with a loud crash the sound of smaller clashing metal filled the air as it began to lock and tighten up again.

We continued our way down the staircase with no particular concern for traps. We trotted down quickly but we didn't sprint. The stairs were steep and if we tripped and fell, it was a long way down. So we trotted our way down the steps and the blue torches on the walls every here and there would provide sufficient enough light but the room was still rather gloomy form the blue tint of the torches. I looked over to king sapphire who had a spark of determination in his eyes.

" so we're looking for the sapphire sword?" I asked.

" no, that was just a hoax to make them think we aren't looking for the weapon we are looking for. I didn't think they would be so friendly so I lied to them, and to you too unfortunately... But you deserve to know what we really are looking for." He said with a tinge of guilt in his voice.

" so we aren't looking for a weapon?" I asked.

" no we are, but you should know the name and magnitude of this weapon." Said the king. "It is much like the sapphire sword, which grants me great power already, but the weapon I'm looking for now has cataclysmic potential if it fell into the wrong hooves."

" that's a bit discerning." I said.

" do not worry crimson, I would never use power to harm innocent lives, after all why would I fight a war for independence if it didn't mean the safety of my fellow ponies." He said making a very good point. I saw no evil in him, he was good, and as pure as mortals come.

" so what is this weapon you need?"

" it's the sapphire serpent staff." Said the king. " it's an ancient weapon with one hell of a backstory."

" sounds interesting, tell me."

" many many years ago when my great great grandfathers father was now taking control of the kingdom form his father, there was a horrible attack on the rising kingdom from an ancient beast as old as time. Large serpent, with sapphire skin, magical power, and venom that could kill a dragon instantly. It ravaged our town and the old king sacrificed his life to trap the beast within his spear. Now the spear has been passed down as a fail safe weapon should we be threatened in such a great way as we are now."

" so this spear summons this sapphire snake to do your bidding." I said. " alright, but is it really worth it, has the war really become as horrible as you say it is?" I asked as we kept trotting down the stairs which seemed endless now.

" every day thousands of my fellow warriors die, our kingdom is so much more than just the city you see me rule form. There are other cities, other towns and villages. My kingdom was once very sizable, but the neighboring scarlet empire changed all of that when they attacked our town and burned the cities, they are ruthless and cruel, indigo city is the last bastion of my kingdom."

" oh..." I said now understanding the full gravity of the situation. " I think I understand, you would do anything to protect what you care for most... Just like me." I said. The king looked over in confusion. " I'm on a mission to go and return somepony I love who has been taken form me... And I've been through this before as well, I know what it's like."

" so you understand why i must do this, to cleanse my kingdom e of the scarlet empire." He said.

" yes I do, and I also know that you are pure at heart, but don't let that stop you from hurting the ones you care as well." He looked at me with confusion. " if you don't think you can handle the power then leave it alone, don't end up destroying everything in the process... And never let the power get to your head, only then will it find the darkest confines of your soul... And ultimately corrupt you."

" you speak from experience, I can tell." He said. " thank you crimson, your words have much meaning and I will see to it that I acknowledge them."

" good," I replied. " I won't be here to watch you win this war, I have my own demons to face. But when I return It would do me good to see this place healed and not ravaged any further." The king went to reply but we both took a step on one of the stairs and it sunk down in its place and I could feel both of our hearts stop. And suddenly the stairs were no more, they folded down into a straight slide and we both lost balance and fell, much like the time when I was in blackmarsh temple, but now I'm on the stairs.

We both let out a cry of surprise as we tumbled down the stairs and fell down and down. We hit each other over and over as well as the walls and the ground. We mainly rolled so it wasn't as bad as actually falling down real stairs but it still sucked. As we tumbled down I could get a good enough view to see when we would ever reach the bottom of the slide which used to be stairs. But to our luck there was a sudden force put up against us and we hit something cold and hard that made us stop. It was the end of the stairs. I hit the ground first bounced slightly and rolled over onto my stomach. The king did the same and ended up rolling over me and landed next to me.

" ugh." I said slowly getting myself up and rubbing my head. " are you alright?" I asked. I waited but there was no response. I looked over to him and he laid on his side completely motionless, sure enough I got worried and bent down to check on him. I shook him and looked over to see if maybe he was just unconscious. His eyes were closed and he was badly bruised and maybe with a few broken bones, I was fine however. He put my hoof on his chest and I could feel his heartbeat. I checked his neck and hooves for a pulse too and they were both fine. His chest slowly rose and fell suggesting he was breathing too. Thankfully he was just out cold.

From what I could tell just hovering my hooves over him, he had multiple broken limbs and bones with some serious internal bleeding, he wasn't doing well, a few of his ribs snapped and punctured a couple of his vital organs. If I didn't help soon he wouldn't be breathing for much longer. I put my hooves on his chest and they glowed bright white. The light slowly crept over him and it began resetting his bones and healing his wounds. I kept my energy flowing over to him for a minute before I was certain he was at full health now, even the bruises and small cuts or scrapes over his body were gone, like they were never there. He soon coughed and sputtered back to consciousness.

" ugh... Oh god... What happened, did... Ow my head." He said a bit delusional but perfectly fine. He was a bit confused, and he looked around the room to see where he was, but soon enough his memories returned to him and he remembered everything. " did I... Was I dead?" He asked looking up to me.

" No." I said reaching out a hoof to help him up. He grabbed my hoof and I pulled him back up on his four hooves. " but you were in bad shape."

" thank you adventurer." Said the king smiling. We started walking down the large hallway with a bunch of blue torches and carving on the walls. " you've proven yourself to be a noble hero, and there have been many times today where you have put me in your debt, such as you just did, so saved my life... And ultimately my whole kingdom... I cannot thank you enough." Said king sapphire.

" don't worry about it too much," I said. " it's my job to fix any problems I come across."

" it is not the job of a god to meddle with mortal affairs... But you do anyway, and by doing so you have made every ponies lives easier." He said.

" I wouldn't really say that... It's my fault that my wife had been taken from me, and now I must get her back." I said.

" but even some things are out of your control." Said the king. " you must learn to accept them." I smiled at him and he did the same. Soon we went silent as we looked forward and saw a large golden, and of course, sapphire encrusted door with a large crown carved into it with other pictures around it. We walked forward and stood in front of the door. It was a fitting welcome to our reward. We both smiled at the sight of the door and put one hoof on it each. We pushed the huge golden double doors open and they slid open with a creek and crashed to the sides of the wall. The room was filled with a golden light that emanated from the new room.

We walked in and the light faded and we finally saw the outcome of our work. It was a huge open room, filled... And I mean FILLED, with treasures and gems of all kinds. There were several tombs laid out in the middle of the room and at the end of the middle tomb stood a large spear with sapphire blades. It was trusted and curved but spiked and rigid. It was an intricate design that seemed fit for an all powerful weapon. It hovered above the head of the middle stone coffin and spun slowly around.

We walked slowly into the tomb and stared in awe. There was treasure literally lining the walls and pilling up in mountains of loot and gold. Various gems and golden items of great value surrounded by millions upon millions of golden coins. Each tomb glowed with a bright blue gem encrusted in the slab covering each one. We kept walking forward and the doors slowly closed behind us and softly locked shut from behind. We kept walking forward and looked around.

The king didn't take much in form the rest of the room, his eyes were set on the spear. He inched forward closely with awe and victory in his eyes. I followed him closely keeping watch over him as he seemed mesmerized and I didn't want him to be taken over by the power of the spear. As he grew closer to the spear he slowly spread a smile across his face. He stood in front of the tomb of his dead ancestor and the spear glowed furiously. It soon began to float over and he held out his wings to grasp it as it grew closer. The spear gently touched down into the grasp of his wings and the glowing stopped, and he smiled even more.

" this is it." He said smiling and holding the spear which seemed like a normal spear now. " I never thought I would see my ancestors spear, but here it is." He looked over to the tombs. " I promise, I will not misuse or abuse its power... I will only use it for the good of the kingdom and not for my own needs." He said in a strong and viable voice. There was sincerity in his voice as well, I knew he would be fine.

" congratulations... You did it." I said.

" this is the first time I've ever really had a quest like this, and now that its complete I feel like... I feel." I decided to finish that for him.

" accomplished, proud... Relieved."

" determined..." He said. " happy and ready to begin a new."

" I know the feeling all to well." I said. " this was a rather grand quest for your first time... I almost envy you." I said smiling at him as he stared down at the staff.

" it was indeed... And it was too much for me alone, I can see now that we were destined to do this together." He said.

" nothing is predetermined, our choices are what lead us down our own paths, destiny is only determined on occasion by gods... But now I think of it, I volunteered to assist you... So maybe fate was involved, but fate isn't what lead me here... That was choice."

" I suppose you are correct." Said the king. " you have my greatest debt and you are now a close ally to the kingdom... And I hope you will continue to be a great support to our kingdom for you immortal life..." Said the king.

" so long as you do not disturb the peace you fight for then our friendship will last, through all the generations of kings."

" I promise that this peace will last... Once we make it so." He said holding up the spear. " now... Please, you may help yourself to any or all treasure you find in this room." He said sliding a large chest over to me. It was already filled with gold and gems and valuable jewelry and artifacts.

" I can't accept a reward." I said. " I have no use for an abundance of material wealth." I slid the chest back over to him but he just slid it right back.

" don't take it for yourself, but do for me... It's the least I can do after all you've done for me... Take it, I do not care what you do with it... Just take it." He said smiling and making me smile too.

" alright..." I said. " I'll find a noble use for this somewhere... I'll spread it across my journey to anypony who needs it... But what will you do with the rest?" I asked.

" hmm..." He said in a serious face before he smiled. " I'll use it to rebuild the kingdom after the war... I'll restore it to even better condition than it was in before the war." He said smiling with confidence in his eyes. I smiled back at him too as he held the spear in his hands and looked at it, like he was looking through it into the future. He slowly lowered the spear and looked back at me with determination.

" and I'll look forward to seeing that once I finally have the time to." I said. " but for now I think we should get out of here... I'm sure it's getting late outside, and I'm sure you're just as tired as I am." I said turning around and facing the closed golden door. He walked over to with the spear in his hand and I used my magic to carry the chest of loot behind me. We both stared at the huge double doors and a heavy feeling was starting to sink into king sapphires heart.

" ahh crap." He said. " now we have to drudge all the way back through..." I just smiled.

" no... I could just teleport us back into the throne room." I said bringing a bit of light to sapphires heart now.

" oh thank you..." He said. " that makes everything so much easier now." He said.

" alright, just hold on." I said as I spread my wings out to my side and concentrated. I faces my energy around me, king sapphire and the chest of gold and treasure behind me. Bright streams of light whisked around me, the king and the chest almost like tentacles taking hold of us. We both began slowly lifting up into the air as energy began firing off in bolts of lightning all around us. There was a loud rumbling sound and soon enough we were gone in a flash at light.

At the exact same time there was a large flash of bright white light in the throne room of the indigo palace. The whole room was filled with light and bolts of energy fired off from this light. The ball of lit started pulling energy up into it causing it to spiral upward around the room causing a strong breeze. And soon enough the great ball of light burst into smaller particles of shimmering light, much like stars that covered the whole room. We stood there now in the throne room as the sparkles of light gently floated down from around his and faded as they came closer to the ground. The king stood there with the spear in his grasp and I stood there glowing furiously from every opening and every inch of my body. But soon the glowing faded and I went back to my normal stature.

" dear god... Watch where you're teleporting." Said a voice from the side of us. We looked over to see the court wizard standing to the side with a burnt hole torn through his robe. " I just barely dodged that last lightning bolt," he said turning back. " I take it the mission was a success from the looks of it." He said smiling.

" yes, it was a radical success." Said the king. " not only did we get the spear but the kingdom now has a new ally, and a very revered, powerful, and trusted one at that." Said the king looking back at me and smiling as he gave me a wink.

" I'll make note of that my lord." Said the wizard. " what are you going to do now that you have the spear?"

" rest... For the rest of today and tomorrow... Then at dawn of the second day I'll bring crimson and his group with me and we'll clear out the dwarven ruins. We can take the next day to prepare and rest up form our quest." He said looking back and forth between me and the wizard.

" that sounds like a formidable plan your majesty." Said the wizard. " I will leave you to relax for the rest of today."

" thank you." The king said as the wizard bowed to us both and left through a door close by. The king turned to me now and smiled. " you ought to be getting back to your friends... It's getting late." He said looking out the window. I looked over and he was right. It was sometime around sunset, it was a beautiful day as well. " I'll escort you out of the castle... I need some fresh air." He said.

" whatever you want." I said smiling and turning to leave. We both walked out of the throne room and into the hall of kings. The castle doors were wide open and a lukewarm breeze blew in through the opening. We walked out into the open world and it was warm... Not very warm, but the warmest it's been so far. The sky was just partly cloudy as the sun set behind the large overlapping mountains in the distance. The sky glowed brilliant colors and the clouds where tinted orange. There was a light breeze in the air and everything seemed peaceful.

" I'm almost sorry that I had missed such a peaceful and beautiful day." Said the king. " I was in a dungeon fighting alongside my partner and overcoming monsters and traps while my subjects were outside enjoying this wonderful day... But I regret nothing, once this day comes again and the danger of war isn't hanging over our heads it will be the most beautiful day this kingdom has ever witnessed."

" is it always so cold and snowy out here in the Capitol?" I asked.

" not always..." He said. " the only time it's ever nice is during the summer... For a few months, but winter comes quickly here. There are cities in the kingdom that aren't affected by this cold, those are the ones further away from the mountains."

"I always enjoyed days like this..." I said. " they usually occur during the fall which I always thought of as my favorite season. I remember me and my wife would always sit on a cloud or in a tree and watch these beautiful sunsets." I said reflecting on the past and mellowing out a bit. The king turned his head from the sky and looked at me grinning.

"You're a good friend crimson." Said the king. " you're also a great warrior, an excellent caretaker, and one of the purest souls I've ever seen in my time." He said making me look over to acknowledge him. " I know that whatever troubles you will have a solution, and I know if anypony can find those solutions, its you. I know you'll come out on this, and when you do it will be a bright and sunny day... Here take this." He said grabbing a sapphire amulet from around his neck and handing it over to me.

" what is it?" I asked as I grasped the amulet. I could feel immense power emanating from the blue gem hanging from the golden chain.

" this is an amulet passed down through every generation starting with the original king... It has the powers of the past kings stored away in it, when you need it you may call on it for help... I thought I could use this to help my effort in the war... But the kings may only be summoned on a noble cause,. No war, no matter the stakes, is a noble cause." He said.

" I don't need any more rewards." I said.

" it's not a reward crimson... It's my blessing." He said. " whatever it is that is troubling you lately and that has taken your loved one form you must be powerful to challenge you... I know you will need it. If not now, then in the future... There will always be something stronger out there. Take it please." He said smiling. I smiled and put the amulet around my neck.

" thank you." I said.

" it was no trouble...now you should start heading home... It's been a long day." He said turning around to re enter the castle. I smiled and waved as he walked in and he waved back. I turned to the bridge leading to the city and walked forward carrying the chest of treasure behind me. I walked past the bridge and into the town. I could easily fly or teleport back, but it was such a nice day that I didn't want to be troubled to. I wanted to enjoy the rest of this nice day which I've missed already.

As I walked through the streets all the ponies who saw me smiled and waved. Even some of the more esteemed adventurers respected me and waved. I smiled back and kept walking. I passed the gate to the outer city and the guards on duty there bowed at me as I passed by. I just smiled at them and continued walking down the street. I walked past all the stores and houses as I made my way through the street. A lot of ponies saw me and waved, I had already grown to be well known in the city already.

I started passing through the familiar streets until I turned onto a very familiar street. I walked down the road and stopped in front of hrothars house. The lights were on inside and I could pick up the sound of talking and laughter. I smiled and walked up to the door. I knocked once on the door and the house went silent for a second. I didn't hesitate to let myself in. I opened up the door and peered in. Once I got a look around I slowly made my way in. All my friends were sitting at the table eating. They all looked over to me and smiled. I walked in fully and used my magic to float in apt he chest I was carrying and place it down on the ground next to the door.

" dear lord boy..." Said hrothar smiling with surprise. " you left this morning without any trace or shout and then you come back with a chest... Probably full of gold if I had to guess." He said.

" gold and gems." I replied with a smile. There was a bark from behind the table and soon shadow tail ran out with a smile on his face and he jumped up to me. I bent down and grabbed him and patted him on the head as he licked my face.

" alright, alright boy I said I would be back..." I said smiling. He jumped off me, ran in a tight circle in front of me and barked again.

" he's been itching for you to return all day." Said twilight smiling. She was looking much healthier now.

" how are you feeling twi?" I asked walking over to the table.

" much better." She said. " I think I'm ready to head out and keep this journey going." She said.

" well we have to wait a bit. Me and king sapphire still need to clear out the dwarven ruins of scarlet soldiers." I said.

" so the quest was a success then." Said thunder rush.

" yeah... We got what we were looking for and got out alive... But damn am I tired." I said walking to the table and sitting down, finally getting to rest my hooves. " ooohhh yeah... That's nice." I said letting out a sigh of relieve causing the others to chuckle and laugh. " so what did you guys do today?" I asked rubbing my front hooves to relieve some of the pressure.

"We'll I got outside today and walked around with thunder rush and Nightflame." Said twilight. " shadow tail followed us..."

" well he followed twilight." Said Nightflame. Shadow tail barked from beside me and let his tongue hang out from the side as he smiled and panted heavily.

" good boy shadow tail." I said patting him on the head. "So where did you guys go?" I asked placing my hooves on the table.

" nowhere special." Said Nightflame.

" yeah, mostly just around town and looked at all the shops and stuff, they didn't really have anything interesting so we haven't spent any money." Said thunder rush.

" we practiced some strategies and attacks in the park earlier too." Said twilight smiling.

" what?... Without me?" I said jokingly.

" well you're the next best thing to a god, so you don't really need the strategies." Said Nightflame causing the table to laugh. I laughed too but it was a fake laugh. Deep under my skin I was a bit tense... Next best thing to a god... If only they knew. But I can't really just tell them out front. It's not one of those things you just blurt out in conversation. So I just faked a smile and laughed and stopped when the others did.

" I wouldn't really say that." I said. " but thanks for having the confidence in me." I said smiling. We all sat there and smiled and told jokes as we ate some food. I didn't eat much, I wasn't very hungry. I had already filled up on delicious fruit inside the twilight caverns. The subject of my adventure never really came up so I never explained what happened or told my story.

Soon enough it started to get late and we all sat at the table telling jokes and having a few laughs. We had eaten our food and sat at the table for a little longer to share a few drinks and some of miska's delicious cinnamon buns. I wasn't too hungry after dinner so I only ate one of the cinnamon buns. It was still good enough to make me eat another one but I stopped myself from doing so. We even gave one of the cinnamon buns to shadow tail... He loved it. But after awhile it was time to head off to sleep, well for me it was.

" I don't know about you guys..." I said getting up from the wooden bench. " but I'm fucking tired... Think I'm gonna turn in for the night."

" good night." Said twilight.

" see ya in the morning." Said miska waving as I went to the guest room. Even shadow tail said goodnight in his own way by barking goodnight. I smiled, wished them goodnight, and walked into the guest room closing the door behind me. I wanted to just plop down on the bed in the room so badly, but I should save that for twilight. I walked to the fur mats laying on the floor and laid down. I rested my head on the straw pillow.

I closed my eyes and started thinking about what I would do tomorrow to prepare for our departure. There wasn't much for us to do, we never really unpacked and we haven't set up a base. I think we should just spend the day preparing strategically, going over to what the plan is. I'm sure that I should most likely go see the king and figure out what the plan is, draw a map out or something, I don't know. Soon enough my thoughts soon turned into dreams and I was lost in sleep. Completely unaware of what the future would bring me.

-Authors Note: Hey guys... what's up, i'm back. really needed to take a break, and things got more out of control than i though so i did extend my break by another week... plus i'm lazy. but i wasn't hiding in a closet or vegging out on the couch. i was writing for the story and also doing some other interesting things, which are on youtube right now. check them out, my youtube channel is the same as this one, shadowsythe22... search me up and check out my stuff... it's all just two new songs that i worked on all this week and last. but anyway, i'm back and i have a bunch of new chapters... but i wont be posting them every day. maybe not even every other day.

i easily burned myself out, which is why i needed a break. so i'll be posting them maybe every few days or so, slowing down on the writing and posting so that i dont burn out again. so anyway, check out my youtube channel, i'd give you a link but the website would delete it anyway, so just search up 'shadowsythe22' you'll find my stuff. i hope all you guys weren't too bored while i was gone. now that were getting back into stuff the adventure can continue... so stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	33. Chapter 33: Behind The Mask And Lights

Soon the darkness around me and my dreams began to fade as my breathing caught up and my heart rate increased. I quickly became aware and felt a strange pressure on-top of me. I slowly opened my eyes and they first caught sight of the burning fire across the room. I panicked slightly at the sight of fire but remembered that it was just the fireplace. I felt silly for freaking out like that. I was in that strange gap between my dreams and reality when you wake up and you're confused and tired.

I could still feel the strange pressure on top of me. I was too tired to look over right away but I just figured it might have been shadow tail. It did feel warm and soft and furry like shadow tails coat, but when I looked over to my surprise it was twilight. I stopped for a second and looked at her and she slept with her head and arms resting on my stomach and the rest of her body curled up in a ball. I wanted to say something but she seemed so peaceful like this, she was even smiling in her sleep. Whatever she was thinking was making her happy and I didn't want to ruin that. I just let out a sigh and laid my head down waiting for her to wake up.

It was a bit awkward but we were very close friends so I didn't mind. I guess she might think its OK ever since that time in the cave when we shared a bed together. I know that we are very close but I am starting to become a bit concerned with how close she is starting to get to me, even after my time spent as scar. I don't want to push her away because I would hate to hurt her dealings, but if I do nothing I only pull her in closer and closer. I'm at my own demise with this problem. I hope that maybe she will stop at one point and we can be close friends, if not... Then I'll have to talk with her, and that won't be good. I always knew that twilight wasn't always the most... " mentally sound" pony in Equestria... But she is smart and I would hope that would help her. I mostly blame it on her OCD.

I let out a large sigh as my stomach deflated and twilight head gently sunk down only to rise back up as I inhaled. Her head bobbed up and down as I sat there breathing. I couldn't help notice that I had started to stare at her as she slept, which was kinda creepy. The fire crackled and popped beside us. Soon the fire let out a large crack as a flurry of embers burst around the room. One ember floated over and landed on my nose. I stared at it as it glowed bright red. It didn't burn or anything, hell I swam through a lake of lava... This was nothing. I just watched it with crossed eyes as it glowed and shined on the tip of my snout. Just looking at the ember filled me with some kind of understanding. Just looking at elements seems to make me understand them better.

Soon the little spark died and turned into grey ash that blew away back into the room. Out of boredom I waved one of my hooves over to the fire and it whirled around and whisked into the air. I pulled my hoof closer and did one of the most interesting things I've ever seen somepony do with fire. Out of the large fireplace walked out a small little pony made of fire. It was just a fire manipulation technique, but it was very interesting. I let go of my control and the fire pony took on its own life and started walking around.

I looked back to twilight and used my magic to slowly pick her up and place her in the bed. She didn't move or wake up but nuzzled gently into the bed. I rolled over and sat up. I looked back at the little fire pony who was just prancing around and setting the floor on fire. I used my magic to quell the flames it left behind and I reached my hoof out. I looked over confusingly and smiled. It couldn't make any noise but it was adorable. I was having fun with this and I managed to smile at the small little pony. It climbed up onto my hoof and it sat on the top of my hoof and smiled. It was just big enough to fit through a mouse hole. I used a bit more magic and soon two fiery wings burst from its sides painlessly. It looked at its wings with confusion and smiled.

The first sound that seemed to escape the little fire pony was a cute and subtle coo. It let out a little giggle as it flapped it wings and took off into the air. To the little fire pony this room must be the world and I'm its god... In context and reality. It flew around and landed down on the wooden frame of the bed, it didn't seemed to light things on fire any longer and I just watched it fly around. I stared at it emotionless and started thinking about some really deep stuff. If I'm a god is this just what I do. Create life, give it advantages, then watch it interact with the world. I watched the little fire pony fly around and laugh and thought that I should get rid of it... But I can't do that.

It's alive. I can feel the energy and the life inside of it, and I can sense it's soul... I gave it a soul. I didn't even know what I was doing and I just created life, is that the kind of power I have now. I can just create life in any way shape or form whenever I want? And to top things off, I've actually grown rather fond of it. The little thing was cute, fun to watch and made me smile for the first time on my own power. Sure those jokes last night were funny, but that's not really the kind of happiness I need. This thing made me happy. And when I looked over to twilight I saw her smiling in her sleep and that made me happy too. And suddenly I had a huge breakthrough, rot then and there. It was like everything was clear to me now.

Being who I am, a god, a savior, and a hero... That means nothing. Those are just titles to describe me, they don't control me and I'm not going to let them. What does describe me is what I do with my own life by my own power. Sure I might be a hero, and I definitely am a god for sure and probably a savior... But I'm also crimson. I used to be a man with nothing on his mind but war and killing. But now I have this second chance and its going pretty well if I do say so. And all I have to do is be happy... In any way I can. As long as I'm happy others are happy... And I want others to be as happy as I am. With the afterglow of my epiphany I started smiling again and I had lost my attention for a minute until I saw the small fire pony floating in front of my face looking at me with curiosity. I blinked and looked at it. It smiled and nuzzled my giant snout with its own and started floating around again.

" I think I'll call you... Sprite." I said smiling watching the little pony fly around. It stopped and paid attention to my voice. It smiled and made a cute cooing once again as it did a little whirl in the air out of happiness. I smiled and laughed silently as the little pony did too. She was rather adorable and I'm sure she will be fun to have. " c'mon sprite..." I said getting up. " let's get some food." She smiled and flew around me as I walked over to the door to the other room and opened it slowly. She flew into the new room and smiled at this whole new world she now has to explore. I closed the door quietly and looked over to see Nightflame and Derek sleeping in the corner with shadow tail curled up at the end of their bedding.

I walked over to the table silently and saw a few of last nights cinnamon buns laying out at the table still somewhat fresh since they've been close to the fire so they're still warm. I grabbed the plate and slid it over. I placed tore off a bit of the cinnamon bun for sprite to have. I took the piece off and held it up to her. It was big enough for her to bite into and quite a meal for her on her own. Given the size difference, a crumb for me could be like breakfast for her. She started munching down on the cinnamon bun and she seemed to really like it. I ate my own food and she ate hers. But soon the moment was broken when there was a yawn and a grunt behind us. I looked back and saw Derek stretching his hooves, lying on his back.

" morning thunder rush." I said with my mouth partially full. Sprite let out a little coo and waved her hoof happily at Derek but he probably didn't hear it. He had his eyes closed tightly as he sat up and stretched out a bit more. He got up and shook out his hooves and stuff.

" oh... Hey crimson." He said getting on all fours, rubbing his eyes and looking over. His eyes caught mine but then they jumped right to sprite floating next to me. " uh crimson..." He said curiously.

" yes?" I said knowing he was curious about sprite.

" why is the air on fire?" He asked. I couldn't help but chuckle a little and smile.

" the air isn't on fire... This is sprite." i said in a friendly tone as i held out my hoof. the little fire pony flew over and landed down on my hoof and derek slowly walked over. he began to see its true shape as he came closer and soon he saw the little pony in full view. he looked at it and the little fire pony smiled and looked at him. he made the mistake of getting to close and the little pony harmlessly rubbed her nose against his own snout like she did before with me, but this in turn burnt derek and he let out a little gasp and pulled his head back as sprite giggled. he held his nose with his hoof but it couldn't have been that bad. "see... cute isn't she."

"gha... that hurt." he said.

"well of course it did, dumbass. she's made of fire and you just stuck you're face right in front of her... what did you think would happen?" i said mocking him... he kinda deserved it. "so what do you think?"

"it's cool... i guess?" he said unsure but still kinda tired and shocked from the burn. "where did you even find it?"

"her..." i said correcting him.

"her... where did you find her?" he asked becoming less shy and walking back over.

"i didn't find her..." i said. "i created her... from the fire pit...and she's sorry for burning you earlier... aren't you sprite." i said looking back down at the little fire pony in my hoof who had her head low and kicked her hoof a bit.

"uhh..." said derek confused even more than he was previously. "it's no problem... i... i forgive you... uh...sprite?" he said. at his words sprite perked up and flew over to him. he backed away a bit in fear of being burned but she flew over and nuzzled up against him. he freaked a bit at first but calmed down. "what the!" he said. "it... she's not burning me." he said curiously as the little fire pony nuzzled his cheek.

"i know... interesting isn't it." i said. "i've noticed that she only gets got when she gets really excited... as far as i can tell." i replied walking over. "i have yet to see how she reacts to other emotions... but we can let those happen on their own. i can imagine this happening when she gets angry too... but we'll have to see." i said holding out my hoof as sprite flew back over to my hoof and then quickly flew over to my back and stood on there like her perch.

"so... anyway." said derek sitting down on the bench. i walked over and sat down too. sprite flew off my back and onto the table and laid down smiling. Derek sat down and ate some of the leftover cinnamon buns like I had previously and I sat next to him. Sprite flew back down to the table and walked over to one of the cinnamon buns. She grabbed a bit of it and tried to pull off a chunk of it. She ripped the chunk off, but fell back and landed on her flank. She paused for a moment in shock from the fall but then diverted her attention to the chunk of food in her hooves and started to dig into it. I watched and chuckled a little bit.

" so... She can eat?" Said Derek.

" yeah, a lot too I guess." I said. " that's her second piece, look at how big it is compared to her... I'm surprised she even ate all of the first one." I replied smiling and looking at sprite.

"So... Does she need to drink water or something?" Asked Derek... That was a good question.

" well I would figure probably not... Since it would most likely kill her." I said. " she seems to do fine without it... Maybe she doesn't need to drink, just eat." Just then there was another moaning behind us and soon a very tired Nightflame emerged from his bed. He let out a fierce yawn and stretched his hooves. He rubbed the back of his head and got up. He let out a smaller yawn and walked over to the table with his eyes still partially closed. Sprite watched from the table in awe.

" hey guys..." He said walking over. " what's up?" He asked walking to the table and sitting down with us. He grabbed one of the cinnamon buns right next to sprite and started to munch down on it. Sprite got excited and flapped her wings as she took into the air. She flew up to Nightflame and landed on the tip of his snout and coo'd. She smiled and looked at him and I could sense he knew she was rubbed his eyes and looked again at sprite and stayed silent for a moment. " uhm... Crimson."

" yes Nightflame?" I said in a joking tone, thunder rush was cracking up behind me.

" what is this?" He said looking right at sprite who flapped her wings again and took into the air. She flew back and rubbed her little snout up against nightflames. " seriously what is it?" He said.

" don't you mean ' who is she?'." I said correcting him. " and her name is sprite, I created her not too long ago." I said smiling. Sprite was now flying around nightflame's head giggling as he tried to follow her.

" why did you make it... I mean, her?" He said.

" to be honest I didn't mean to... But I like her, she's adorable..." I said. " plus she's completely animate, she has a soul and everything, emotions, free will, and total control of her body." I said. " I got bored this morning and tried doing a little fire manipulation and ended up creating her."

" so you woke up this morning, got bored, and created a new form of symbiotic life..." He said.

" pretty much." I said smiling like it wasn't a big deal.

" I always thought fire was my thing." Said Nightflame. I didn't reply, instead we three watched sprite fly around and laugh, she seemed very happy and I was glad of it. Before I could say something else that was on my mind there was another noise, to the left this time. I looked over to see the guest room door slowly open up and a sleepy twilight walk out yawning. She walked over and smiled but stopped when she noticed the little fire pony flying around.

" uhh..." She said. " crimson what did you do?" She asked. I just smiled and rolled my eyes. Sprite had noticed twilight and got excited again she flew over and greeted her like she usually does. She rubbed her little snout against twilights and then flew up and landed on the top of her snout. She wasn't burning twilight so I think she has her excitement controlled to a certain point. Sprite smiled at twilight and twilight looked at sprite curiously with crossed eyes.

" twilight I would like you to meet sprite, sprite this is my friend twilight." I said. Sprite let out a cute little squeak as twilight stood there stammering a bit trying to find some pitching appropriate to say. There wasn't much to say in a situation like this, only to ask questions.

" who is sprite?" She asked.

" the... The little fire pony standing on your snout... Was I too in specific?" I asked like she didn't see the point of what I said earlier.

" I know that... I was addressing her. Who is she?" Asked twilight walking over with sprite still standing strong on her snout even when twilight was talking.

"Sprite is..." I said thinking of a good definition for her. " well she's one of a kind, I promise you that. I created her this morning, from the fire. It started off as an innocent fire manipulation, then I might have accidentally given her a soul." I said in a shy attitude.

" a soul..." Said twilight in a disgruntled attitude. " so you mean..."

" yep... She is a living breathing being." I said finishing twilights sentence for her. "Free will, emotions, independence, and total control over her own body."

" this is, uhh... Well it's, uhm... She's... She's definitely interesting." Said twilight.

" I know... I've grown fond of her, and I think I'll take her with us, " I said. " I think she'll make a great friend and good company."

" well I can't argue with you on this matter... You did create her, it's not my place to decide her fate." Said twilight. I smiled and she did too. We all sat down at the table and started eating. Soon enough shadow tail joined us and hrothar and miska not long after. I introduced them to sprite and when all the greeting were over with we sat down at the table and discussed what we would be doing today. We went over briefly what would be going on today and I went over the plan for tomorrow.

" so basically, me and the king are going to push back the scarlet empire and turn the tides of the war In our favor." I said. " after the armies have either all been destroyed or have fallen back far enough, we will traverse through the ruins and then we'll be on our way to oasis." I explained the plan to them and they followed along.

" so what do we do?" Asked Derek.

" stay out of it..." I said. " just stay back until the armies are gone and ..." I stopped when I was interrupted by a knocking at the door. " uhm..." I muttered as there was another knock on the door.

" I'll get it..." Said miska getting up and hurrying to the door. She walked over and opened the door. " hello." She asked but the door was forced open even more putting me on alert, soon a robed unicorn busted through and walked into the house. " court Mage...!" Said miska in shock.

" crimson... Crimson!" He said looking around and finally spotting me.

" what... What is it?" I asked.

" come quickly." Said the wizard.

" what's wrong?" I asked.

" the king needs to see you now..." He said frantically. " quickly I can teleport us to the castle come..." He said with his horn glowing brightly. Before I could argue or pull away from the spell he teleported us to the castle. In a flash of light we were gone and soon I found myself outside of the throne room. The doors were closed and the Mage looked frightened. I was confused as to why I needed to be here.

" crimson... I'm sorry for pulling you away like that but its the king..." He said.

" what about the king?" I asked.

" I don't know... He isn't himself, he doesn't even look himself either, I can sense great hatred in his heart that never existed in him before... Something is wrong." He said.

" when did this happen?" I asked not in too big of a hurry to fix the problem that didn't seem to big to me.

" last night..." He said. " I went to see if he was well rested and I couldn't find him in his room, I found him on the throne scolding a fleet of guards with that staff in his hoof. Two of the guards talked out of turn and he had them killed... He has never had anypony killed before... He's different and I think it's that spear... Ere must be a curse on it, I couldn't sense it before but now I can even feel the hatred on it from here."

" and you need my help... It's good that you found me." I said.

" you were the closest friend he had and he trusted you... Maybe he still does, try and talk to him... Get him to drop the spear... Don't kill him, but if you must force it from him... The longer he holds onto it, the angrier he becomes... Quickly." He said opening the doors with his magic. His nervousness went away and he put on a charade for the king as he walked into the room bowing his head in respect, as well as I.

" Who isss it?" Said the king in a deeper more serpent like voice.

" crimson blast your highness." Said the Mage as we grew closer to the throne, soon enough we were at the steps of the throne and I looked up to see the horrible figure that had befallen the king.

" ahh... Yesss, crimssson blassst." He said. He had a thin forked tongue that flicked every time he pronounced an 's'. He had yellow snake eyes with slits instead of pupils, and he had grown fangs as well. His armor was no longer blue and noble colored but instead it was green and black all over, like poison. He had a malicious smile on his face, and the thinner parts of his coat were just scales now, this wasn't good. " have you come to dissscusss the battle plansss?" He asked.

" yes your majesty." I said seeing he still trusted me even through his changed form. I took a moment and analyzed the area. As I did so, time seemed to slow down so I could get a good cover over everything. So far I can tell that when the wizard has told me was right. The spear is full of hatred and spite, and is constantly pumping this hatred into him. The king is still inside though. A small blue light surrounded by an aura of hatred, I need to act quickly and get the spear from his grasp before his true self is completely taken over by hatred. I stopped looking around and time resumed its normal course suddenly.

" MAGE!" He said shouting at the court wizard who cowardly fell into a bowing position.

" yes your highness." He said almost shaking.

" leave usss." He said pointing away with the spear. The Mage bowed one last time and teleported away in a flash of light. The king settled down into a rest and soon stood up from the throne. His armor was torn and covered in chains and broken pieces of armor, it looked rugged and makeshift. " ssso... What ssshould we dissscusss?" Asked the king walking down from his throne with loose chains scraping against the floor and loose pieces of metal clanging together with every move.

" If its alright with your majesty, I would like to go over our strategy and battle plans for when we crush the scarlet empire." I said trying to act on his level and not seem so different, almost like I had changed with him.

" yesss, good idea." He said with the spear in his grasp. I need to get his trust and when he's distracted I'll force it from him, I know that he won't let go of it easily. " come with me... To the war chamber." He said walking off to a side door. I followed him as we trotted off to the new room. He opened it up and we walked inside. With some kind of magic all the torches in the room lit up bright green. The room was an open gathering room with a large round table with a magical three dimensional map engraved into it. On the map there were magical holograms of all the pieces of this strategy game, forts, cities, armies, and captains.

" what does your majesty propose our strategy should be?" I asked respectively.

" a sssimple act of masss ssslaughter ssshould ssscare thossse Red Devilss back home... If not, I'll be sure to try over and over again. His horn glowed and the map started to zoom into a mountain range close to the city. Once it was zoomed it I saw the outside of the ruins. They were huge and there was a blue army encampment outside the doors. The map zoomed in some more and opened up into the ruins themselves, we had a Birdseye view of the arena. There were red and blue camps everywhere. And blue red bases on the opposite side of the ruins. His horn glowed and soon on the blue side of the map two ponies appeared, it was me and the king.

" so we go in and kill all scarlet warriors." I said.

" every lassst one." He said smiling. Soon the two holograms of us glowed and the whole map filled with light as every one of the red soldiers depicted on the map had now been destroyed. I looked back at the king who was taken into the battle raging on his little map. I saw my chance and I had to take it, if I didn't then the king might be lost forever. Without hesitation I let out a cry and used all my might to blast the kings right wing which he was using to grasp the spear. In the explosion of energy the king was forced back and was flung through the air and the spear was torn from his grasp " what isss thisss incolenssss?" He said getting angry now with one scorched wing. I rushed over to the spear and guarded it, I didn't dare touch the spear.

" this isn't you king sapphire, this spear has corrupted you, made you angry and violent, it has filled you with nothing but hatred and spite... This isn't you." I said guarding the spear.

" it hasss given me nothing but courage and power." He said. " I'm going to fix thisss land."

" no... You're going to destroy it... The people don't need a king of violence and war, they need a king of peace and understanding... The spear has changed you... Just look at yourself, you're a snake... Literally and at heart too." I said pointing out his figure now.

" fool." He shouted in a wave of power. " return my ssspear, or I'll have your head."

" I won't kill you... But if you want my head then you'll have to get it yourself." I said standing up to him.

" ssso be it." He said growling at me now. His horn glowed and he pointed it right at me. He fired a large green blast of energy. As he fired off his beam he let out a shout and it fired right at me. It hit me and I let out a grunt from the force... But it couldn't hurt me. I was confused. I seemed to have some kind of natural defense against it. It just bent around me and flew back tearing through the rest of the castle. As the beam kept firing I. It iced pit was made purely of hatred, and that it was also draining the hatred around the kings heart, so long as he doesn't touch the spear again I just need to make him tire himself out of his hatred.

" remember what I am..." I said as soon as his blast died down and he started breathing heavily. I stood there I phased by his attack. " remember what you're up against. You cannot hope to destroy me, I will live forever... And if you do destroy me now, I will find you later."

" you call yourssself a god... You are nothing." He said. " a sssimple pony with to much power than he knowsss what to do with. You are weak, worthlesss." He let out another shout and fired his blast at me again. It hit me and fractured off of me. The blast bounce off of me in all directions. It tore through the castle and broke through the ground and the walls. The castle was rumbling and shaking. The hatred inside of the king was leaving him and the Brit blue aura inside of him was growing back to strength.

I could sense him growing weaker and so was his attack. But he was relentless and kept up the attack with no real sense of danger. He wasn't able to catch onto my plan, he was falling for it. The hatred was leaving him now and the blue aura of the king was now returning. He finally stopped his attack and stood there tired and leaking energy. There were light green cracks all over his body that seeped out hatred and dark green energy that floated into the air and disappeared. His shabby armor soon turned to ash and he was now without his gear. His features had begun to return to normal, his eyes, the fangs and his coat was growing back.

His original kindness was now strong enough to repel the hatred and spite on its own power and the hatred inside of him was now slowly decaying. As more hatred last cracks and marks started forming over his body and the green glow they gave off before was slowly fading to a deep blue. And soon the hatred was nearly gone now and a deep blue aura soon started to form over the king as he glowed bright blue and filled the room with light. The torches on the wall changed color from green to blue. And soon the light faded to show the original king sapphire. He was tired and broken, but his energy was slowly returning to him.

" crimson?" He said almost asleep with exhaust now. As energy returned to him he slowly got up onto his four hooves.

" king sapphire... Are you alright?" I asked.

" thank you... Crimson." He said smiling. " that's the second time you have saved my kingdom and the fourth time you have saved myself. This could have been prevented, if only I knew it would corrupt me."

" it's not your fault." I said.

" it is though, I was meant to hold the spear." He said.

" no... The spear was simply not meant to be held." I replied. " it's hatred would have corrupted even me... It was an evil trap that no pony, including myself, had seen coming."

" maybe you're right..." He said. " but what will we do now, without the weapon."

" remember what I said." I replied. " this kingdom needs a king of love and understanding, not war and hatred. Why can't there just be peace?"

" we have tried that, believe me... They won't listen." He said.

" to the enemy... Of course not." I replied continuing his statement. " but maybe they'll listen to me... And if not, then so be it. I know yours is a noble cause and I will defend that cause if I must be the one to turn the tides of the war myself... But I cannot fight this war for you."

" I would never expect you to, and I am truly outraged by this unfortunate setback." He said with a tinge of anger and regret welling up inside of him.

" do not worry..." I said. " as a god of balance this is my responsibility, to keep the peace and balance of the universe... And with the scarlet armies in the ruins me and my group would not be able to travel to our destination... And it's very crucial that we do." I took a few steps back and turned around to walk out of the war room and into the throne room. The whole castle was destroyed. As we both walked out there was a flash of light and the Mage soon stood to the side of me and the king. He could instantly see that the king was back to normal.

" crimson, you've done it... I knew I could rely on you, thank you." He said smiling and bowing at me.

" you were very wise to seek crimsons help arkos." I never learned the mages name, I guess its arkos. " thank you."

" of course king sapphire." He said. " I knew something was wrong, and I knew crimson would be the only one to help."

" now crimson, I believe we have some news to spread to your group members." Said king sapphire.

" we?"

" yes... We." He said. " I feel like this is my fault and I should be there to help you explain the situation, I'll walk with you to your group and I'll explain what has happened. This affects them as well as you." He said smiling and walking a few inches in front of me.

" I suppose you're right." I said. " but are you sure you want to just walk down to the lower city?" I asked bringing up a good point. Around here I'm rather famous and I get a friendly smile from all the ponies, but he's the freaking king.

" I'm sure celestia has talked to you about how dreadfully boring it can be, sitting In a palace all day with almost no pony to talk to." He said. " a little walk never hurt, plus I'm sure all my subjects would like to see their king." He said. I just smiled and jokingly rolled my eyes. " now lets get going, you can lead the way."

" alright... Don't get lost." I said smiling and making a joke. The king chuckled and we walked out of the castle with me in the lead. Arkos waved goodbye as we waved away and returned to the mages quarters. We entered the hall of kings and soon got to the front gate. We walked out and past the courtyard to the bridge. As soon as we got to the bridge all the guards stationed there froze in the surprise and shock of seeing their king cross the bridge. The only thing they could think to do was bow out of respect and possibly fear.

We passed the bridge and soon walked into the inner city. It wasn't long until we started coming across ponies, and we all know how that went. Every pony bowed to their king in respect as he walked by. He smiled and waved at a few of them and we kept walking. For a stroll through the city it was a Gerry casual one too, he wasn't in any armor or even wearing his crown, but then again it is hard to mistake your alicorn king for somepony else. We kept walking and soon we passed through the market.

Word had already spread fairly quickly and ponies were already gathered outside their homes and in the market to see the king as he walked by. They all bowed just like everypony before them and the king just smiled and waved at the crowd of ponies. We continued to keep walking through. Soon enough we came to the gate to the lower city and the guards protecting it bowed as we both passed through. It was a while until we came into the depth on the outer city. As we started to pass by the other ponies, they acted differently in the presence of their king, and by differently I mean they didn't act whatsoever.

" uhm... King sapphire." I said to the king. He wasn't waving and smiling now but looked around at the ponies with curiosity. Some of the ponies looked at him strangely, but didn't react like they were his king.

" yes crimson?" He said replying to me.

" how come these ponies aren't recognizing you as their king, they aren't bowing." I said. He smiled and let out a sigh.

" well unfortunately the outer city is greatly cut off from the inner city. Most ponies here are too busy trying to live and survive to be bothered with most things. I'm sure some of these ponies didn't even know we had a king. Some may recognize me, but since I'm so terribly out of uniform it's like I'm just one of them." He said still smiling.

" why are you smiling?" I asked.

" because I don't mind it." He said. " it takes pressure off of me. I'd rather fit in now a days than stick out... Plus I'm not too crazy about gathering attention." We kept walking through the streets of the city and some of the ponies looked over and smiled and waved. For a second I though they were recognizing their king, but they're attention was directed towards me. I can't blame him, I know what it's like. I often dream about just being normal again, it's strange really. Normal ponies all want to be something big and special, but sometimes the ones who are special just want to get away from the attention and blend in normally. I looked over to the king and smiled.

" what?" He asked looking at me and noticing my smile.

" you know, when this war is over and you've repaired your kingdom, you should take a break... You would deserve it." I said smiling. " fly out to Equestria, you me and my friends can celebrate... Give you a chance to feel normal."

" that's a very generous offer." He said smiling. " and I may have to take you up on that one day. But for now we should deal with our current problems. The party can come after."

" alright..." I said smiling and turning onto hrothar's street. The king followed me and we started walking down the street. " I'm staying at a friends house, my group is there. It's just down the road."

" good..." Said the king smiling as we walked down the street and still got almost no reactions form the passing ponies. It wasn't long until we drew closer and closer to hrothars house and soon enough we were at the doorstep. We walked up and I stepped forward. " is this the place?" Asked sapphire.

" yeah..." I replied. " here let me go first, they're probably worried about where I am, after all arkos did snatch me up in half a second. He barged through the door yelling for help then teleported away with me before explaining everything... So I'll go in first." I said.

" that sounds like arkos. He's not that great under pressure, or much of a social pony, but his hearts in the right place and he knows what he's doing." Said the king. I smiled and turned to the door. I brought my hoof up and knocked on the door. I heard the shuffle of hooves on the other side and talking, it was muffled so I couldn't hear it. Soon a pair of hooves grew closer and closer to the door.

" who is it?" Asked a familiar voice on the other side. The door swung open to reveal hrothar. Behind him were the others just sitting around the table with a map spread out on the table. When hrothar saw me he smiled. I don't think he could see king sapphire. I am quite large and block the doorway, and the king was to the side out of view. " ah... Crimson, your back." Said hrothar.

" yes I'm back." I said.

" crimson?" Said twilight looking over.

" hey he's back, about time." Said Derek sitting at the table. They all looked so calm and relaxed.

" about time?" I questioned, repeating his statement. " did you guys not worry at all what might have happened to me? did you just sit here?" I asked quite frankly shocked at their sullen behavior to my sudden departure. Before I could go on a small little red light flew over to me and landed on the tip of my snout. It was sprite, who was hugging the tip of my snout. Her adorable behavior managed to make me calm down a bit.

" yeah, we pretty much stayed here." Said Nightflame.

" wow... Thanks guys..." I said sarcastically.

" sounds like you have some great friends." Said king sapphire next to me. The others seemed confused and hrothar kept looking back in confusion as he left the doorway to return to the table.

" they're not that bad, they're all the best friends a pony could have really." I said. " they're just joking really, they know I can handle myself better than any other pony."

" uhm crimson..." Said twilight.

" huh... " I said redirecting my attention into the house. They still couldn't see the king.

" who are you talking to?" She asked. I smiled and took one step into the house.

" just a friend." I said smiling. I turned my head to king sapphire and gave him a friendly wink. " here come on in, make yourself at home." I said walking all the way into the house now with sprite buzzing around me. She flew up and sat down on the tip of my ear.

" don't mind if I do..." Said king sapphire as I entered the house and walked over to the table. He entered the doorway and looked around as he slowly walked in smiling. " this is a nice home, very quaint and cozy, I think I'll redecorate my own room in this style... Staring at marble for hundreds of years gets bleak and boring, and those damn stain glass windows are so drafty." When he fully entered the house he used his magic to close the door. Just like me, he was close to scraping the top of his head against the ceiling. I almost laughed as I watched everypony's mouths drop to the ground.

" we'll I hope you enjoy your new renovations." I said smiling and adding to his joke. Hrothar and miska's mouths dropped mostly from noticing that they're king was now standing in the middle of their house. The others mouths dropped at the presence of another alicorn. Even though Nightflame was an alicorn, we've gotten used to him, plus he's young and not fully developed. King sapphire however, was a fully grown and powerful alicorn. " guys I would like you to meet my new friend, king sapphire." Those words caused the others mouths to drop a little more. " king sapphire, these are my friends twilight sparkle, thunder rush, and Nightflame." I said pointing to my individual friends.

" it's a pleasure to meet you..." He said bowing his head a little.

" and these two ponies are hrothar, and his wife miska. They're kind enough to share their home for us and have been my friends for a while actually. I stayed with them last time I was in indigo city."

" it's a pleasure to meet such kind souls." He said bowing to miska and hrothar. In excitement sprite flew from my ear and buzzed around king sapphire. He was a bit confused at first as he tried to follow her. When she stopped and hovered in front of him he smiled. She rubbed her snout against his and squeaked in joy, it was pretty damn cute. " and who is this little fire pony?" He said smiling and watching her.

" that is sprite..." I said. " she's one of a kind."

" she surely is..." Said king sapphire. " it's an honor to meet such good friends of crimson, I've heard only good things about all of you."

" I... I... I." Stuttered hrothar. The king let out a soft chuckle and smiled.

" there's no need to be so nervous, this is just a friendly visit." He said smiling. " no need for formalities."

" I...but... How?" Said hrothar stuttering a little bit more before he closed his mouth and swallowed his nerves. " I swear... Every time you walk through that door you've got some different surprise with you... Dammit boy, your going to give me a heart attack."

" king sapphire please..." Said miska walking forward. " have a seat, relax. Can I get you anything to drink? Some food maybe?" She said being very hospitable. I smiled and the king grinned as well.

" just some water, thank you." He said walking over to the table and sitting down near the side. I walked over and took a seat next to him and Nightflame. The others just stared at king sapphire. " well..." Said king sapphire. " you all like like a noble band of warriors and travelers, hmm." He said looking at Nightflame. " very different seeing another alicorn, such as myself. Where are you from?" He asked curiously.

" uhh... Who, me." Said Nightflame.

" are there any other alicorns in the room." Said sapphire raising an eyebrow and smiling.

" why are you guys so tense... You're never like this around celestia, or even around me... What's up?" I asked.

" I guess... It's just the surprise of it all." Said twilight. Soon they all began to relax a little as the question got out there. Miska walked over and placed a cup of water in front of king sapphire. He turned to miska and smiled saying thanks. She smiled back, bowed slightly, and returned to her seat.

" so, where are you from?" He asked.

" uhh... Equestria." Said Nightflame. " my father king grey forge is in charge of the upper north mountains. The mining settlements are up there. It's not technically part of Equestria, but it might as well be. Uhh, my name is Nightflame, I'm the heir to the throne."

" ah yes... The metal citadel," said sapphire. " iron forge... A very respectable place ruled by a great king, and full of strong and dependable ponies. Have you heard of my kingdom before, I do import all my iron and other metals from your fathers kingdom, the strongest and sturdiest steel and iron in the world. Surely your father must mention the kingdom?"

" well, not often really..." He said. " I don't often have such strong conversations with my father, and the countries he sells to aren't really on the list of things to discuss."

" alright, I see..." Said sapphire. He smiled and turned his attention to twilight. " and I'm guessing you must be twilight sparkle?" He said.

" uhm... Well yes." She said.

" oh yes... I've heard about you miss sparkle, your celestial favorite student... And I'm sure she must be right to believe that." He said.

" I didn't know you knew about me." She said blushing a bit.

" you might not have much of a reputation with the ponies of indigo city, but I know your name. Your a wielded of one of the elements of harmony, magic if I'm correct."

" uhm... Yes" she said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you miss sparkle..." Said king sapphire. He then turned his attention to thunder rush. " and that must mean you are thunder rush..."

" uhh, yessir." Derek said.

" no need for formality... So what do you do?" He asked.

" nothing really... My only claim to fame is that I'm crimsons best friend."

" we've been friends for as long as I can remember." I said butting in. " before all of this happened we used to be the greatest of friends. We used to be soldiers in a small country to the south of Equestria, we were at war and there was no hope."

" the enemies had destroyed our home while we were out o n the battlefield, it was a dirty trick." Said Derek continuing the story. " with no hope most of the soldiers fled the country to whatever place they could find, me and crimson got separated along the way... But I found him later in Equestria... And we both live peacefully in ponyville."

" yeah peacefully." I said rolling my eyes and smiling. " sometimes we get to do that." I said making the others laugh.

" well you must be something special..." Said sapphire. " I can see the good in you, the raw love and passion... That's something you can't find in a lot of ponies... That's what makes you special." Derek smiled and so did sapphire. Before anything happened there was a barking and then shadow tail ran out from the other room. He ran over to sapphire and barked happily at him, wagging his tail, sapphire smiled.

" I'm sure you remember shadow tail." I said smiling.

" oh yeah... I remember this furry guy here." He said. He reached down and patted shadow tail on the head and shadow panted happily with his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. The king smiled and looked back up to the table.

" uhh... Your highness." Said hrothar timidly.

" yes hrothar?" Sapphire said looking over with a smile.

" what crimson said about the scarlet empire, about them being right in our doorstep. That can't be true... Can it?" He asked timidly. The smiled n the kings face slowly faded into a frown of resentment.

" unfortunately it is..." Replied the king. " the center of the dwarven ruins to the west of the city are currently home to the battleground, and we're losing ground every day."

" but... Your highness, why would you not tell the ponies about this... Your subjects need to know the truth." He said. This for some reason put a smile back n the kings face.

" yes... You are right, the ponies do have the right to know the truth... And the thrush is that most ponies cannot handle the truth." He said. " I have a good reason for withholding this news, simply because ponies don't want to hear it. I mean to keep the ponies here happy and peaceful. If they knew they would panic, then everything would fall apart. I took the stress off of all they're hooves... And put them on mine."

" and now they're on mine..." I said indirectly leading to the reason for the kings visit.

" yes..." Said the king. Everypony in the room looked over with confusion. " I think it's time to let them know why I'm really here." He said as the smile slowly faded off of his face again.

"Crimson... What is this about?" Asked twilight confused.

" I'll tell them." Said the king stopping me from answering my friend. He closed his eyes, let out a deep sigh, and began his story. " I'm sure crimson has all told you of the weapon he and I searched for... And you know that it was going to be our one hope to turn the tides of the war... But the weapon wasn't what we thought."

" what do you mean... What happened?" Asked Derek eagerly.

" we'll... Uh... It's." the king was stammering no I took over.

" it's hard to explain..." I said. " the wean was powerful, but it wasn't the power we needed." I said clearing up any doubt. " it was full of hatred and anger... Which had corrupted the king, that's why I had to leave this morning, I was at the castle in corrupting him... But the weapon cannot be used now... Or it will darken him again... So now it's up to me to turn the tides of the war." I said.

" YOU..." Exclaimed twilight. " all by yourself, you're going to fight this war?"

" we talked about making peace with the enemy first." Said king sapphire. " they might not listen to me, but you friend has a highly respectable title, so they might listen to him."

" but if not, then i will do my best to push back the scarlet empire..." I said. "It is what I'm entitled to do, as a guardian of peace..."...shit!

" guardian of peace?" Asked twilight... Shit! Shit shit shit! How could I have just said that, I fucked up. I accidentally let that go. Quickly, I have to think of something to cover this up. Everypony is looking at me with confusion. Even king sapphire. He's wondering why they are looking at me like that. The something clicked in his head and he knew that they didn't know, he now shared the same sentiment with me.

" crimson, what do you mean guardian of peace?" Asked Nightflame. Well... Uh... It could be worse. I could have revealed that I'm a god. At least I said guardian, not god. I could feel myself starting to sweat a little.

" uhh... It's nothing, don't worry about it."... Dammit crimson, don't say that, it only makes you seem more suspicious.

" no... Tell us, c'mon, you can trust us... We're your friends." Said thunder rush. I know they're my friends and I do trust them, but I have no intention of letting them know the truth... Yet.

" I shouldn't have said that." I shouldn't have said that either! I'm just burying myself more and more into this hole now. " just trust me, it's nothing." I said trying my best to climb out of this hole I'm digging for myself, but it clearly isn't working.

" crimson... I know you're hiding something." Said twilight. " in fact I've known, that you've been hiding something." I gulped and started sweating some more. " the new attitude, immortality, and all these new abilities and powers. You've changed in a major way and you're not telling us what it is... What is it crimson?"

" yeah... Now that twilight says it, it does make sense... There's something majorly different about you." Said Derek. " c'mon dude you can tell us."

" you can trust us... We're your friends." Said Nightflame. How could twilight have always known... For a god I'm pretty fucking stupid. I need to do something fast, but I can't think straight with all my friends putting me on the spot like this.

" crimson tell us." Said twilight

" you can trust us." Blurted out Derek

" crimson, what's going on, what are you hiding." Asked hrothar.

" crimson..?" Asked king sapphire. All the constant questioning and the lack of trust was growing stronger and getting to my head. It was driving me crazy... And an all too familiar darkness, one that haunted me a long time ago began to creep its way into the room. All too suddenly everything was black, only the white static outlines on everything. All of a sudden as the blackness crossed over my friends they're voices faded and only high pitched, head splitting sound echoed all around me, killing my ears.

I felt trapped, In a way that I had never been trapped before. Felt like I was trapped in not just a web of lies, but caught between the sides of me. Like the king said, I have a good reason for not letting my friends know. It's because I'm afraid that they won't be able to handle the truth... But I see that at some point or another we have to face the harsh truth... And it always hurts in some way or another. All of a sudden I felt the need to escape boil inside of me, and with it came a flare of familiar emotions, ones of distress and fear, and anger... But only for a moment did I feel anger... But it was enough to make me do something I may regret later.

" STOOOP!" I shouted releasing a great force that pushed everything back against the walls and blew out the fire in the fire pit. Only I was left in the center of the room, and the darkness had faded away now too. I stood there breathing heavily with a glare on my face and bright glowing eyes. " my secrets are my own... Not for you to know!" I said yelling out with multiple voices as one, like I had done other times before. Only now had I realized how terrifying I could be when I'm angry... It's even making me scared. " Stop... Pestering me... Leave me be." I said glowing bristly, and in one flash and another surge of suppressing energy I was gone.

I was covered in light once again. This teleportation wasn't instant but I was coming through to my destination. I didn't know where I was trying to go, or where I would end up. All I knew was that I needed to get away. I was still angry, still upset... Still hiding my secrets. I've never been one to just open up about these things without being very desperate first or without good intention or reason. When the light started to fade it was replaced by... More light? No not light... Snow. Pure white snow... And a chilling breeze. The snow fell rapidly from the sky, and it whirled all around me. The ground was rock hard and cold and the air was thin.

Once It became clear to me where I was I almost found peace in where I was. I was on top of the mountain... The large mountain me and the others passed to get to indigo city. The path is miles from where I am standing now, which would be the peak. I was on the top of the mountain standing there in the harsh and frill cold. The heat of the moment, the burning anger. The cold sting of the snow seemed almost peaceful, it began to quell my anger and my rage... Until soon it was gone.

" what have I done..." I said sitting down in the snow. I Let my head down and started sulking and reflecting on what had just happened. If I could go back and fix everything I would... But unfortunately time travel isn't in my arsenal of magic... That's completely separate.

" what have you done indeed?" Said another voice that has now startled me. It was female and sounded familiar. For I second... I thought. Could it be her? I turned and looked behind me to see a white figure start making its way out of the snow. I think it is her? As the white figure revealed herself, I saw it wasn't who I thought it was... The figure was mirella. " this is quite the situation you're in... And so casual as it started... Secrets aren't easily kept, one little slip up, and everything falls apart. Lies only beget more lies crimson."

" why are you here?" I asked her standing up to face her.

" I know you are troubled... And being a god isn't instant... You aren't fully realized yet, and you still have much to learn... And only time can be your teacher." She said.

" I thought I knew what I was doing." I said. " but I clearly don't, I'm not ready for this."

" but you are ready for this crimson." She said. " you just don't know what you're ready for." She said. " like I told you, only time can be your teacher... And I know that you have learned from it before."

" mirella... What do I do?" I asked.

" follow the signs..." She said smiling.

" what signs?" I asked getting more anxious and annoyed.

" they have all been shown to you... You just need to see them." She said. " celestia has shown you one, so have your friends, and king sapphire, there are four signs... And only the last one can be told by yourself." She said scowling backing away and smiling.

" no... Wait... WAIT!" I said making her stop but it was too late. She disappeared with the snow and was gone now.

" crimson..." Said a voice behind me, it sounded female." I quickly turned around.

" mirella?" I asked quickly turning around. I was disappointed slightly when instead of mirella I saw a different goddess. She was wearing blue robes with a large blue crystal staff by her side. She had hair that flowed like water and deep crystal blue eyes.

" no... I'm Aqiana... Goddess of water, and the oceans." She said. " you should know me well, you have my heart... I was one with you before your ascension."

" why are you here?" I asked. " what role do you play in helping me?"

" we are the same..." She said. " I am part of you now, so I know how you are feeling." She said. " like me, like water, you are feeling angry or mad, you get hot, and boil. But when you feel desolate and distant, you get cold and freeze, your very much like me... "

" how does this help me." I asked.

" because, whether you are mad and boil into steam, or feel lonely and freeze into Ice, water is still water... And you will always still be crimson. Mirella forgot to mention, but the other gods can show you a sign or two listen to what we say..." She said before evaporating and floating away.

" I guess that makes it my turn." Said a familiar voice behind me. I turned to see mordecai sitting on a rock with his arms crossed and black smoke floating around him, he was smiling as he stood up and waved. " hey there crimson, how's it going."

" and what do you have to tell me?" I asked.

" just this..." He said taking a deep breath. " now.. I know you may not think much of me... Being the element of darkness and all, you think I'm some evil entity... But I'm not. I'm just darkness... Because evil hides in the dark, doesn't make the darkness itself evil... You know, you have good experience with it."

" so what is the difference between evil and darkness." I asked.

" only one... Evil wished to exterminate the light, all that is good." He said. " but darkness cannot live without it... They both need each other... There are no barriers between them, they are one thing crimson... You're not a bad person, or a bad pony.. And you're going to make one hell of a god..." He said as he started to smoke and fade away. " oh.. And when you find shall-grahkan... Kick his ass." He said smiling before leaving and then I was alone, but not for long.

The sky thundered and shook, then from the blinding white sky a bolt of pure lightning fell from the sky and struck the ground. From the flash emerged a large muscular man in iron chain mail armor with a mighty hammer. I'm going to give one guess he's the god of lightning and that his name is Thor.

" and you must be Thor... God of thunder?" I asked.

" yes... I know, my name is one of the more common among the elemental gods, due to my ties with the gods of lore... But yes, I am Thor, god of thunder.

" and what have you to say?" I asked, now more interested in this now than pestered, part of me knew what they were saying was all true, and I figure if at any time, now would be the best for self reflection, and what better way than with my different selves.

" only this..." He said, he has a great booming voice. " you must become the elements that make you whole. Thunder... Is strong and reliable, but not as fast as lightning which is quick and cunning... And thunder is powerful and slow... But the two must be one with each other. You cannot think power, or speed, or strength... But you must make these things work with you... You must be power, must be speed..."

" what has this to do with?"

" think crimson... " he said. " to understand, you must become two of the opposite forces... You must combine what cannot be made to fit..." He said before lightning flashed from the sky and struck him, when it was gone so was he. I let out a deep sigh and waited for the next god to appear. And soon there was a flash behind me. I looked back to feel only heat. And soon I saw the fire god standing there smiling.

" hey fire..." I said with a sullen attitude. " what have you to say to me?" I asked sullenly. He smiled and walked forward. All the snow melted around his feet and it just flew away from him as it fell from the sky.

" crimson, you must know much about fire... The heat anger and violence of it..." He said. " most people and ponies see it and think of pain, destruction, and violence... They don't view it as a positive thing... But that is not true... Can you see what fire is... Unlike them?"

" I... I can't say that I do." I said looking down. He just kept smiling.

" crimson what this is, is not easy... You must find the clues, the signs. You have to put them together, and only then will you realize what it means to be a true god... Let me tell you what fire is."

" alright... Tell me." I said.

" fire... Is not pain or destruction... It is the opposite of that. Fire is life, it is warmth. It gives us hear, and protection. It feeds, it grows and it feels. It burns forests and towns, and as well does it burn in the hearts of those who have passion... Crimson... Can you feel the fire in your heart... The warmth of passion and determination. Can you see the fire in your own eyes... The will to never give up. To understand you must feel the fires of life within yourself... You must understand... This is all I can teach you... Good luck my friend." He said before whisking away in a tornado of light.

I took a sigh and tried to concentrate but I couldn't. I felt a force behind me. I turned to see a thin sliver of green poke out of the snow. It was a plant. Soon the plant rapidly began to grow and become larger, despite of the climate and location. Soon it sprouted up to be a large flower pod, big enough to fit a person in there. As the flower pod soon cracked reviewing a gorgeous pink flower as big as a bed, and in the middle was a woman wearing a leaf like bra and underwear. She had a bow on her back made of oak and a quiver of arrows, this must be nature.

" hello crimson..." She said. Her voice was soft and sweet. " I am vitaana... Goddess of the nature and forest. I have come with my sign to you."

" what is your sign?" I asked patiently.

" crimson... In nature, there is only beauty and peace... It is a place of calm thoughts and reflection... But there is more too it, so much more. Things you cannot see with a visible eye are happening all around you. Plants are growing, animals are thriving. The trees that have been growing in the forest before you were even born are standing there... Watching you in all their wisdom... They are alive... The forest is life. The trees grow, they eat, they drink, and feel.

" is there any more?" I asked.

" in the winter... A time of depression and cold, trees and plants wither and die." She said. " I know you've seen this before, you have felt it along with me. But... In the spring, they grow back to their former glory so the world can see them for their beauty. You must be lime the trees crimson... You must be wise. And only time can make you so... But when winter comes and you wither, always remember to grow back in the spring." She said. Hers was more confusing than the rest, but before I could question her, the plant pod she was in closed back up and she receded back into the ground.

Just then a large spike of earth shot from the ground and arose from it a new god. He had dark brown stone armor with a mighty axe in his hands. He had a grand beard and long white hair. The ground reset and I picked myself off the gerund as it had almost thrown me off the mountain side.

" hail crimson..." Said the large man walking over. " I am eos... God of earth and all that holds up the earths beauty."

" and you must have your sign for me." I asked.

" I am not a cryptic person crimson... But you must understand that there aren't many mysteries to the earth. Rocks and the dirt have always been there, they don't grow, and they don't go away... They are stubborn and arrogant. They are Strong and stubborn.

" is that what I should be?" I asked.

" no crimson..." He said. " there is more to it than that... Earth isn't just strong and stubborn, but they are dependable. They are everything we have, everything we forge, or create, comes from the ground. They are the building blocks of the world. All the tools and weapons and armor we have is made from the metal in the ground. Do you see crimson, you must be willing to go through change, you must become something that you were not in the first place." He said. He stomped his foot and a hole opened up in the dirt. He jumped in laughing and smiling and it closed back up, he was a bit of a strange one.

I stood there on the mountain. I listened to the gods signs and tales. The next two that came to me were the god of air and the god of life. They told me all about what those things where, they were pretty straight forward. The god of air talked about the wind and the air, how the wind always points to the direction of change and moves forward towards that change with strength and ambition. Then the next one to appear was the god of life. His story was a little more interesting.

" crimson... You must understand... Life isn't everything. Just as light and darkness are opposites that must live together, so is life and death. Life always ends in death, and what point is life if you cannot die... That is an immortal gods volley, life without death. If we don't die... Things become meaningless, relationships are pointless if everyone we meet must die before us."

" this isn't going very happily." I said interrupting him.

" it may now, life isn't full of happiness... But what it does is that it leads up to death... And one way or another everything must die... But if you can understand that then you will know not to be afraid of death."

" for the god of life, you sure do speak about death a lot."

" listen crimson... Life." He said. " it's everything... It's what keeps us going, what makes us... Everything, possible. Without any life, this would just be a rock hurling through a void... Life is the meaning of life..,"

" life is the meaning of life?" I said.

" the answer is within itself. The meaning of life is to live... It's too simple. If you don't live... Then you're dead and life is no longer with you... Therefore meaningless." He said... Holy shit. That's some pretty deep shit.

" I hope you will understand, and I'm sure you know who is coming for you next." He said as he began glowing and in a flash was gone. But soon that light was replaced by darkness and from the spiral of darkness rose death himself. His dark black robe that turned into smoke as it reached the bottom. His shadowless being and his bony skeletal hands. In his hand he held his large scythe that gleamed in the light. The very presence of him seemed to make all the light go away... It was an unfortunately familiar feeling.

" crimson..." He said beckoning to me as he pointed at me with his bony hand. " I have come to show you the sign... The final sign. As death is the ultimate end, so should my warning to you be the last you hear... All that is thought of death is wrong."

" what do you mean wrong?" I asked.

" i am not evil... Nor am I good. Death is not evil or good either... It is necessary. Whether or not a soul is damned or saved is not within my control... Purgatory is my kingdom, it lies between heaven and hell, good and evil, such as it always has. Of all other gods... I solemnly swear to you they do not compare to me."

" how so." I asked. Hue swung his scythe over nearly inches from my neck. It gulped and started sweating.

" this..." He said. " is not a tool of killing." He said pulling it away from my neck and holding it again. " it is a tool of harvesting, it is what I do, I harvest souls... Ones that do not have their bodies. I have gone by many names crimson. Reaper, the devils farmer, harvester of souls, king of maggots, judge of the dead... All are fitting titles... But one that I've been fond of using, is simply the title of death... That is what I am, what I represent, and what I believe in.

" all that you are, represent, and believe in?" I said.

" I am the omega, the ultimate... Everything ends with me, and in some circumstances, which you are familiar with, not even gods are safe from the steel of my tool. When it comes to the material world, some may be more important to others. But in death, everyone is equal, villagers, kings, rulers, politicians, heroes, thieves, murderers. Titles cannot save nor can they damn... In the end it all depends on the soul presented before me.

" I think I understand." I said.

" I hope you do crimson... Your fate, the fate of your friends and the fate of ones you do not yet know are all intertwined with you now... Do not betray their trust... Because it might come back and find you later." He said as a cloud of black smoke swirled around him and he was gone. I sat back down in the snow and rested my head. I had to start thinking.

All of the signs were in front of me, I know what they are... I can see how they might be of help to me... But I don't understand what I need to do. I felt confused, alone, sad, and... And... And afraid. I was scared I might never get this. That I might end up hurting others more than helping them. I need to get through this. I need to be as strong as stone,as powerful as thunder, as fierce as fire, lucid like water, wise as the forest, adept as air, bright as light, cunning as darkness, as meaningful as light... But what about death... What does death have to do with me. I kept thinking but I cannot understand. There must be more that I'm missing... There must be something I didn't see.

Why can't I just figure this out...

-Authors Note: hello ladies, gentlemen and brony lovers of all kind. if your going to choose any of my authors notes to read, it should be this one... gotta explain a WHOLE LOTTA SHIT. so first off, i'm going to post this chapter today and then i'm going to post a chapter every Friday now. i may post chapters on Wednesdays if i have too many or i may post two on Fridays if they really fit well together. so i will be posting weekly now... not just whenever. so i'm posting this today to clear up all the new things i have planned. so tommorow i'm going to post a series of chapters that need to be posted all together. the next few chapters are very important and i will explain that in due time.

also a while back i said i was going to kill off an important character, and i still am. i have decided who it is going to be and ive decided when they are going to die... but i will not disclose any information about it. i'm sure that you'll all know it when it happens. what i can tell you is that i WONT happen soon... so you can sit tight for a little bit... but i wont tell you exactly when or who. i did get a lot of really good ideas from you guys though about who i should kill and a few scenarios too. but the decision is made, and it has been written in stone.

last thing... the idea discerning the different dimension is set and i have the lay out of the adventure. if you wish to know what the dimensions are then PM me asking for them and i will happily tell you. i will not, however, disclose them publicly in the authors note. s few of the ideas aren't set in stone yet and are liable to be replaced by new ideas, so if you have any let me know and i'll see what i can do. i am no longer requesting OC's at the time since this is a crucial stand point in the story line where additional characters cannot be put into the story unless i create them specific to the occasion. i ask that you guys please be patient in waiting for your OC's to be introduced to the story... i'm trying my best people... sheesh. just kidding... maybe, anyway that's pretty much it... uh, dont forget to read the rest of the story... it gets better i promise you (foreshadowing) anyway... stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady bro's. Bai.-End of Note-


	34. Chapter 34: Ascension 1

**For the next few chapters they are all going to take place through the view of different characters. this part of the story is the most important and the views of all other characters help solidify the point im making in these few chapters. this is the brink of everything. everything that happened to crimson ultimately lead up to this point in time.**

**-the following chapter is shown through the eyes of TWILIGHT SPARKLE-**

I don't know what to think... I really don't. I'm worried about crimson. He is the greatest friend I've ever had, but he always seems so troubled. I know he only does it for our own good, but I. Think he's too protective of us, he doesn't understand that he has to trust us as his friends. Yesterday, yesterday was something new... I've never seen him get like that. He has been angry before and it's always something of a shock, to know that side of him could exist... But this time was different. I was terrified... I though he was actually going to hurt us... But I knew he never would.

Whatever his secret is, we must have been pulling some very tight strings on the subject for him to get so worked up like that... We haven't seen him since then. It's currently morning now and the king advised us that he would still try and push us through to the other side of the mountain... He said that his Mage had created an emblem that keeps the hatred of the spear from overtaking him... So he can use it. But still... I worry about crimson.

I woke up that morning opinion the bed and I put a smile on my face only to I have it vanish when I remembered that he wasn't there sleeping on the floor when I awoke, just sprite and shadow tail. I was secretly hoping that he would return that night, but I can see it was just a wonton hope. I lazily picked myself out of bed and started getting ready... The king said that he wanted to move us to the war base outside of the caves early in the morning. So I got up and naturally i started getting ready to leave.

I walked out into the main room and I had waken up sprite and shadow tail. They followed me in and when I got there I saw the others in their gear and eating food. I smiled faintly and walked over as they smiled back. We had cleaned up the mess that crimson had made yesterday... But we couldn't fix the lingering air of regret wallowing in the room... It was obvious enough from every pony no matter how hard they tried to cover it up.

" good morning twilight." Said thunder rush.

" good morning thunder... Nightflame... Miska, hrothar." I said saying good morning to everypony. I took my seat and began eating breakfast while I levitated my bags over to my side and placed them down.

" are you ready twilight?" Asked Nightflame. " the convoy of guards and the king should be here any minute... Have you got your staff?"

" yes... I do." I said. Once we were done eating I got all my stuff together. Put my robes on and grabbed my staff. Since I didn't bring my bags in the first place and crimson forgot him here I grabbed his stuff and put it on my back. And soon enough there was a knock on the door. Nightflame answered it and just as I thought, it was the king and his convoy of guards. He looked a bit sullen too. But he held the spear in his wing he talked about. It looked incredible.

" are the three of you ready?" He asked.

" yes we are ready." I said walking forward. We all want outside and we joined a large group of soldiers in large sapphire encrusted armor. They all healed huge spears like the kings but not quite the same. Hrothar and miska walked out too and smiled. Goodbye hrothar and miska... I wish crimson was here to say the same." I said regretfully.

" don't worry yourself, miss sparkle." Said hrothar. " crimson is a strong lad, whatever he's going through right now might be bad... But he'll pull through... I'd bet my life on it. He said making smile slightly, the others smiled too.

" it was wonderful meeting you three." Said miska smiling.

" aye... She's right." Added hrothar. " you three are a great bunch, I hope you find what your looking for and I hope that when crimson returns to you that you'll tell him I said... Well... Tell him I said that I wish him good luck." He said. I smiled and Nightflame grabbed our luggage still sitting there in the wagon now covered in snow. We had put that large chest crimson brought home onto the wagon and only added more weight.

With a deep sigh the king told the soldiers to march onward and we began our trip. I waved goodbye to miska and hrothar and they waved back until we were out of sight. As we marched through all the ponies in the city smiled and cheered us on, like a crusade to victory. The king smiled and waved at the ponies, but he was hiding his true feelings. I didn't bother much with what was happening around me mostly because i kept my head down and didn't see anything around me.

We had been walking silently for a while now and when I looked up I saw we were leaving through the western exit of the city instead of the front most gate. As we passed by the large exit we walked out into a snowy hoof beaten path covered by the forest. Soon the hustle and bustle of the city faded and all was left was the forest. The clanging of the soldiers metal armor with every step they took became a more prominent sound as it soon became the only audible one. They were drowning out the sound of my own hooves hitting the ground, I could even tell if I was walking on the ground.

It wasn't too long before the forest began thinning out as a large mountainous crevice soon became our terrain. There were two large stone walls on either side of us, and It seemed to go on this way for miles and miles. But it must have been some kind of trick because only after a few hours did the mountains begin the change... The first immediate change was a large gateway. We stopped in front of it. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It was two large statues of dwarves holding up mighty hammers. They were in armor and much taller than any stature I've seen. I was shock to see the camp laying right across the way from us, only a minute of walking would put us there.

I had been looking at the ground for the entire time I never even saw what was in front of me. I sometimes make it a bad habit of doing that. The king smiled slightly and we started to walk forward again. The king had said something but I quickly forgot what he said. I was too busy looking at the camp. Across the camp was a large door... Much larger than the gateway. Past the gateway was an opening where the camp was, then the large doorway into the ruins. It was big enough to fit several dragons through to at the same time. As we got to the camp everypony y was greeting the king, even all the commanders and officers. Ten the king turned to us and he had a serious look on his face. I didn't like it very much.

" there's something I must tell you..." He said.

" what is it?" Asked thunder.

" I lied to you..." He said.

" about what...?" I asked getting tense.

" about the spear... We can't use it to win this war... Releasing the serpent would only prove to destroy us as well... But I am keeping my a promise to get you across." He said.

" but... You can't just lie like that... You need to change the tides of this war today." Said Nightflame.

" maybe... Or maybe not... But I owe crimson blast my life on several occasions..." Said the king. " if anything I owe him this... Please understand."

" I understand..." I said solemnly.

" I... I guess you're right." Said Nightflame.

"Uhh... As much as I hate to go out like this... I guess... I guess there's no other option." Said Derek. " but I feel bad about not being able to help you in any way."

" crimson has already helped me in more ways than I asked..." Said the king. " besides I have one last ditch attempt before this is over..." He said.

" what's that..." I asked in curiosity. I noticed the king was smiling, and he meant it this time.

"If this battle does not gone well then I'll have the soldiers retreat... Once they're all out of the ruins... We'll blow entrance." He said smiling.

" what..." I said in shock. The others seemed a bit aghast too.

" what do you mean... Blow the entrance?" Asked Nightflame.

" I've got all the highest mages here ready to bring the entrance down and make the ruins impassible... There are only two exits... This one and the one on the other side of the mountain range."

" why would you do that... These ruins are sacred." Said Derek.

" I know... That's why I hesitated to execute this plan. This was brought to my attention a long time ago, but now that the kingdom is in real danger i have no other option."

" this isn't going to stop the scarlet armies..." I said trying to talk him out of it.

" it wasn't meant to... It will buy us time and give us an advantage. It will force them around into the cold forests of the mountains and the frozen tundra... They'll be at a disadvantage and our cold blooded soldiers will have to problem treading through the snow and firing in the cold." Said the king.

" why are you so sure about them in the snow." Asked Nightflame.

" it's always cold here... Even in the summer. Only one month has decent weather and that's in mid summer... It's the dead of winter... They won't survive the cold. My soldiers have been in the cold all their lives... They wouldn't even need armor to keep them cold. In fact..." Said the king smiling. " captain frost..." Yelled the king into a tent nearby.

" yes your highness." Said a frigid but powerful voice nearby.

" present yourself and your men..." He said.

" yes your highness... You heard him boys... Lets go." He said from the tent. As the flaps opened five warriors walked out of the tent... They were... Terrifying to say the least. They all had light blue, almost white manes and a slightly darker blue coat. They wore blue ice like armor with fur inside for warmth... But that wasn't the scariest part. They're eyes... They... They glowed bright blue. Every time he spoke of took a breath frost would exit from his mouth. As he walked the ground froze underneath him, and same for the others. They held huge axes that had bright blue glowing cracks in them. It was like theses is were made of ice.

" sir..." Said the five ponies standing at attention.

" twilight, Nightflame, and thunder rush... Meat the fiercest warriors the sapphire empire has to offer... Captain frost and his four warriors snow, hail, ice, and glaze. These five have been gifted with unique magical powers at birth... A phenomenon that only happens five times every thousand years."

" that's... That's incredible.

" at birth we were all gifted with the spirits of ancient wendigos." Said frost.

" magical winter spirits... They feed off of hatred and anger." I replied adding some information.

" you can only imagine for that reason, why we are such skilled and feared warriors." Said frost.

" why haven't you used them yet?" Asked thunder rush.

" inside that mountain our skills are limited..." Said one of the other warriors, snow I think. " but in the cold and snow, we are a force to be reckoned with."

" I see..." I said, before I could say anything else a great roar emerged from out of nowhere. It was emanating from the ruins, and it startled everypony. We all looked towards the entrance to the cave. It sounded like a large horn of some kind.

" what the..." Said Derek.

" that's our cue... The horns of battle." Said the king. " quickly we must go... There is a secret path on our side of the cave... It should be able to bring you out to the other side of the mountain and far enough away from the scarlet camp.

" why haven't you used this to your advantaged?" Asked Nightflame.

" it's too narrow... Not nearly big enough to fit an army through quickly enough, it would take days to get the whole army through that passage way." He said. " quickly we must go... The battle is about to start... Quickly, follow me." He said walking off. Two guards were following us. We stayed behind the king and he lead us through. As we inched our way closer to the large gates to the ruins they seemed to grow larger and larger.

Once we were right in front of them I had to look straight up to see the top of them. Why on earth would dwarves need such large doors. Finally we took our first steps into the cave and we looked around. There were columns of stone propped up everywhere. There were decorations all along the walls and ceiling. The huge hall seemed to lead on forever, but out of the darkness I saw a large door at the end of the hall. As we took our steps forward suddenly a bright light flashed in the corners of the room.

And down along the walls flowed lava... Tons on it. Rot I between the columns lava fell down from the ceiling. Naturally me and the others were scared a bit, but the kings calm demeanor as well as the guards meant it wasn't any trouble. As the lava approached the ground, the floor opened up and the lava fell in and seemed to fall down these huge crevices into the center of the earth. The lava did a good job of lighting up the cave and everything was much more clearer. The light showed us the door at the end of the hall and it was a huge iron door.

" stop here." Said the king... " over this way." He said quickly after turning to the right. We walked over and got closer to the crevice I between the columns. I was confused as to what we were doing here. As the king took a single step at the edge of the crevice a fridge of stone instantly shot out from the edge and made a walkway over the pit. We continued along and I started crossing the bridge not long after. I walked by a pillar of stone and a pillar of lava. As we all passed over the bridge it receded back and we were in a small sliver of land between the walls and the crevice of lava.

" now where is it?" Said the king looking over the wall intently. He searched high and low. " ah..." He exclaimed as his face lit up brightly. But then something stopped him from smiling... Stopped all of us... I felt something, strange... Some kind of great power. Suddenly the whole cavern behind us turned blue. A bright blue light flashed through the whole length of the cavern... We all looked back as the natural light from the outer world soon became less and less... The entrance was closing. Naturally I was worried and so were the others. And soon enough, with a large crash a large rock in the shape of the entrance rose from the ground and closed shut, our way back should this go wrong.

" uh... That's new..." Said one of the guards.

" just my luck." Said another one.

" it's fine... We still have our way out of here." Said the king. I turned back and was surprised to see a doorway now opened up in front of us. I was too distracted by the light and the rock raising from the ground. " quickly, we must press onward." Said the king. So we did we slowly entered the narrow passage and walked forward for a bit.

We walked through a large cave with little to no sign of an end... But suddenly cracks in the rock of the walls became luminescent and started glowing red. They lit up the way and pointed out the cave wasn't so straight as we thought. It curved to the left and then started rising. So we followed through the cave, I had to use my magic to help keep the cart moving forward. We kept pressing forward, silently. Then through the hall we heard an abrupt roar of a horn. It echoed through the cave we were in and scared me slightly.

" that's the second horn... The battle is about to begin... Hopefully we will cross before it starts... Hopefully." Said the guard next to me.

" yes... We must move quickly..." Said the king. We kept going forward. And soon, only after a few minutes, did a second horn sound off in a lower pitch. We ran and ran through the tunnels and there was a faint light at the end. Along with the horn, was another roar... A different kind of roar. It sounded like the shouting of... Ponies? We kept moving forward and forward until finally, we breached the light... And all my questions were answered.

All of a sudden everypony stopped and we looked over. We were on a huge high-rise, only a few yards from the ceiling of a cave. The cave which we were in was easily three times the size of canterlot. I stared in shock and awe. Crystals poking from all around e cave gave it light... And at the floor of the cave... Was an army. Two armies actually, one red and one blue... There was much space in the middle for battle but both sides spanned on for what seemed like miles. The sea of red soldiers was easily larger than the blue army.

" oh my god..." Said thunder rush.

" yes... This is the big battle we were not supposed to see." Said the king.

" not once in the entire war has there been one of its size." Said a guard to the side.

" this battle could take out almost the entire army... We would have to start drafting hunters and ponies from the city... Even the inner city." Said the king.

" what, how could something like this happen... I've heard of war before, but never have I seen it." I said.

" then you would be smart not to look miss twilight." Said the king. And just then the sound of two horns fired off from both sides of the cave followed by the roar of soldiers. I could feel they're anger from here. And then without hesitation, they began to run. They ran, and they ran and the space between them grew smaller and smaller as the two colors began to pull closer and closer, I tried to close my eyes, or even look away... But I couldn't. Soon the armies grew close to each other, mere seconds away from each other... And then, they clashed.

But something was wrong... The two armies met each other, but never mixed. There was a blue flash in the center between them and there was nothing else. The was silence. The armies tried again but only another flash of blue light flashed up. I couldn't figure out what was happening. Then, a bright blue flash sparked in the middle of the field, the two armies backed away. It spread across the length of the cave and started to rise into the air... And it began to reveal a shield of some kind. A bright bright blue shield from top to bottom of the came.

" what the hell is that?" Said one of the guards... I didn't know myself.

" who put this shield up... It wasn't there before." Said the king.

" look." Said another guard. " it's cutting off our path to the way out." He said pointing to the blue shield overlapping our passage up ahead. Then suddenly there was a blue light. A whisks of blue energy began flying from the walls and the ground, all heading towards the center of the cave. They started swirling and concentrating in one solid location and began forming a ball of bright blue lit. As the last whisk entered the ball the ground started to shake and rumble and the ball solidified and became one solid light source... And soon it began to expand until the whole cave was blinded by the bright light. I put my hoof over my eyes and looked away, once it was gone I looked back, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

Standing there was now a solid figure of blue light with energy swirling around it. It was in the shape on an alicorn and was just solid light. It had pure white for its eyes so there was a way to distinguish it, but whoever it was, they were huge, at least twice the size of crimson, they were a giant. I don't think I like the feel of this. Needless to say both armies backed away. Except for one pony on each side... It was probably the commander of each army, they slowly approached, I used a spell to listen in on the conversation.

" who... Who are you." Said the sapphire general.

"What is the meaning of delaying this battle." Said the scarlet general.

" SILENCE..." Boomed the huge figure. I didn't need magic to hear him from here. The voice echoed clearly through the cave for all to hear. And just as he had asked, there was silence. " YOUR WAR HAS RAVAGED THE LAND OF ITS PEACE AND INTEGRITY, IT IS MEANINGLESS AND NULL... BACK DOWN AND I WILL SHOW MERCY..." Commanded the voice... The sapphire general backed away and bowed his head, probably agreeing.

" y-yes... The sapphire army will retreat."

" no you won't..." Boomed the scarlet general. " stand and fight. We have come so close, we cannot let this slip away now."

" SILENCE..." Boomed the larger being of light... Somehow I felt like there was hope, I looked down and saw the king smiling... I instantly knew what this was... And I smiled too, everypony had smiled now. I could even feel happiness coming from the blue army.

" you be silent..." Said the scarlet general. "This land rightfully belongs to the scarlet empire... We will take what is ours and rid this world of these blue demons..." He said.

"THE SAPPHIRE KINGDOM HAS STOOD HERE FOR CENTURIES AT A TIME... THEY LIVED IN PEACE, BUT YOU CAME AND BROUGHT WAR, YOU BURNED THE LAND, RAVAGED THE CITIZENS, AND BROUGHT SUFFERING TO THIS PLACE. YOUR ACTS ARE UNFORGIVABLE AND REQUIRE SWIFT, SOVEREIGN JUSTICE... I WILL UPHOLD THE PEACE OF THIS LAND." Said the voice, I could feel that the general of the scarlet army was really steamed now.

" who are you to keep the peace... You are not god." He said.

" that is where you are wrong..." Said the pony, his voice still reached every part of the cave even though he wasn't shouting. It was like his voice could travel onwards infinitely. " I am the god of balance and order... You may refer to me as crimson." He said... Wait what,

" did he just say..." Asked Nightflame.

" that can't be crimson..." Said Derek .

" what did he mean by god of balance and order... He's not a god... But... Oh shit." I said. It makes so much sense now. At that very moment all the pieces of the puzzle clicked together inside of my head and inside the heads of Derek and Nightflame.

" retreat now... Or suffer the consequences." Said crimson lowering his shield and opening up the area for attack. " attack, no you will be destroyed..." He said, he glowed even more brightly than he was already and like that he was gone... Only a large space between the two armies.

" grr... CHARGE." Ordered the general of the scarlet army... Oh no that's not good. I thought for a second they would charge but they did anyway. The sapphire army started running back in retreat but the scarlet army ran after them. They began catching up and closing the gap until a large wall of crystal blue spikes shot up from the ground along the length of the cave and skewered the entire front line of the scarlet army... Needless to say they stopped. Soon a pillar of light rose up, with crimson on top of it, still glowing blue.

" you have been warned... Now... Suffer." He said glaring and now glowing a deep deep black. The spikes turned black and dark energy start raising up from the ground all around the red army. They were scared of the black energy. Crimson shot his wings out from his side and they let out a flurry of dark red embers as the symbols on his body and his eyes began glowing a sort of magma red. He flapped his wings once and dove up a few feet into the air.

He flew up a bit more and quickly began falling to the ground. A ring of energy began forming around him as he fell faster and faster. And in an instant he broke the sound barrier causing an explosion of black smoke all around. At the same time he hit the ground with a mighty crack and a rift opened up from him to the other end of the cave. The soldiers unfortunate enough to be standing there at the time fell in and hurled into the pit.

I couldn't look away... I was horrified but amazed. It was so obvious the whole time, how could I not see this coming. I knew he was powerful, but ascending to the title of a god is unheard of... That may be why I didn't think of it. I only realized now how much more interested I am in crimson... But I can't say that. Every time he shows up its something new with him... I can't really think of anypony more deserving of his place however. It's hard to believe that my best friend is a god... And a god of balance at that... I can barely remember when he was a normal pony.

" RRRRAAAGGHHHHH!" Crimson shouted in a mighty voice causing a wall of lava to jet up from the crevice in front of him. Lava flooded out over the field and rained down on the ponies... The air was filled with the screaming of ponies in pain and the shouts of agony. The soldiers ran for their lives and quickly fled back out through the cave. He didn't do anything else... I suppose he didn't need to. In one fell swing he eliminated at least half the army and the rest are dying as I watch him now. He closed his eyes let out a deep sigh, and as he did the lava receded back into the pit. Once it was all gone the rift closed and the wall of spikes behind him collapsed down . The last of the scarlet army was now fleeing back out of the cave.

Slowly and surely his black exterior and red glowing aura faded into the purest of whites and his body itself stopped glowing and he was now recognizable again. He was in his magical armor with his flowing mane, which was now black. I remember it up being golden blonde. His fur was still pure white and his armor was slightly golden and covered in all manners of different things now. Symbols and marking spread across it, each one glowing a faint black, like ink. He was still about seven feet tall, like a giant. I could hear the sapphire army cheering behind him, so were me, Derek, Nightflame, the guards and king sapphire... But he didn't seem happy, which made me stop cheering. He had a solemn look on his face.

Then as a shock to me he turned his head and looked right at me. I was taken back in shock and looked back at him as well, it was hard to make out what he was doing from here, or even to tell he was really looking at me, but I could feel that he was. I stared back at him with confusion and he looked solemnly at me... Then he smiled. It was a sincere friendly smile that only lasted for a few seconds. The a flash of light filled the room and he was gone, leaving only the crater which he had earlier made. The opposite side of the cavern was filled with burnt and destroyed bodies on soldiers, the smell of burnt flesh quickly filled the air, but no pony seemed to mind.

" hahaha..." Said the king. " thank our new god of balance, he saved us today... Maybe now the scarlet army will think twice about messing with us."

" holy shit... That was freaking amazing..." Said Nightflame.

" I never thought crimson could pull off something like that..." Added thunder rush. They were both smiling and celebrating crimsons decisive victory. I couldn't help but smile myself a little bit. " that was amazing..."

" yeah... I guess it was." I said quietly to myself. No pony heard what I said so they didn't comment. After a few minutes of standing there cheering the army started to celebrate on the battlefield and we continued on our way outside. We walked by the whole battlefield, up on our little ledge overlooking everything. We kept talking about how amazing crimson was and how great of a friend he is... Well the others did. When somepony asked me for my opinion I either agreed or just politely brushed them off. I am still a little taken back by this... I don't think the others get it yet... I know the king does, he must have already known. I'm sure that the princess knows too and has sworn secrecy to crimson... I wonder how many other ponies know.

By the time we passed by the entire battlefield it had already been an hour. I don't think the king expected the fight to go so quickly. It was still early in the morning... Well, at least it was early enough. It couldn't be a minute past eleven. As we finally made our way out of the ledge and into the next cave the sight of the battlefield disappeared. The sound of the celebrating army followed us through the cave however. The cave was a straight hallway that glowed all the same as the last. The noise from outside slowly started to die down into a whisper until it was completely gone. Now there was just us. At the end of the cave was a drop, as we approached it we noticed it was just a staircase.

We started making our way down the stairs and I had to levitate the backside of the wagon above the ground so that it would be able to go down the stairs easily. It seemed like forever, but eventually the stairs ended in another straight tunnel and I let the wagon touch back down on the floor. It was pretty heavy, but I've really been getting good at my magical abilities. Also it helps when you wearing magic amplifying robes. At the end of the tunnel we walked through was a solid wall. I was confused at first but I figured it would work like the others and open up to the touch of a hoof or something.

" alright let's see..." Said the king. He started looking up and down all over the wall, there were marking and symbols over the door, but it was hard tell what they were supposed to be, it was kind of dark since the glowing cracks in the wall had stopped a while back. " damn... I can't see anything, does anypony have some kind of light source?" Asked the king.

" here..." I said smiling. " I can help." I said as I focused my energy into an illumination spell. My horn lit up a bright purple and shone light all across the hallway.

" ah perfect... That I you miss twilight." Said the king. He started looking back over the door and his face lit up as he smiled. He pressed his hoof against the wall and the wall sunk back a few inches. The rest of the wall followed and It pushed back a few inches and then opened up to the left. Soon light filled the tunnel and I turned off my illumination spell. We walked out and were greeted by a sudden rush of cold. The light from the new room was blinding and our eyes needed time to adjust, only then did I realize that we were outside.

The snow falling from above, the cold winter breeze, and the crunch of already fallen snow on the ground. Once the light subsided and our eyes finally adjusted I looked around. Seemed like we were on some sort of ledge. It was sitting on the side of the mountain with the peak right behind us. We were up here pretty high.

" well, this is it..." Said king sapphire. " this is as far as I go... I have a kingdom to rule... But I wish you the greatest of luck, and when you see crimson again, tell him I owe him once more..."

" will you be fine on your own...?" I asked, curious as ever.

" oh don't worry... The tides of the war have indeed turned." Said the king. " even though crimson couldn't destroy the whole army, he did much more than that. He boosted the morale of our troops, dropped the morale of the enemy, and also made the ruins off limits to the scarlet army... This will put them on our terrain, where we can easily take on the scarlet armies... He's turned the tides in our favor... We owe him a great deal."

" I hope you fare well in the war... We'll be rooting for you." Said Nightflame.

" yeah... Good luck, and thank you for the help." Said thunder rush.

" no problem... Now hurry, you have a quest to complete." Said the king. We smiled and turned to face a path to the right of us and started walking. The king turned to enter the ruins again but stopped and called out. " oh wait..."

" what?" I asked curiously.

" I almost forgot... When you reach an intersection at the bottom of the mountain, make sure you don't go through razor ridge." He said. " that place is dangerous..."

" thank you, we'll make sure to avoid it." I said smiling. He waved goodbye as the doorway to the ruins slammed shut from the side and he was gone. The slamming door echoed through the mountain for a few seconds and then there was silence, only the whistling of the wind could be heard. We started to slowly make our way down the mountain side, but I could tell that this would take a while. Somehow. The entire time I kept up the hopes that maybe crimson would show up randomly, smiling and glowing like he always is... But it never happened.

" so uhh... When is crimson going to be showing up?" Asked Nightflame.

" I was thinking the same thing." I replied.

" I don't know... He still might be dealing with something, I noticed he didn't seem like himself back there." Said thunder rush.

"Hmm... You might be right." I said agreeing with thunder. I had noticed the same thing too. No pony commented after I spoke and we walked down the long cliff side road. The snowfall had decreased greatly from the top of the mountain now and it's gotten slightly warmer. We've been walking for about an hour. I can see the evergreen forest down below, filled with large pine trees and spruces. Looking down there was making me nervous of the height since we were on the edge of the cliff. I looked back but it didn't help a bit, but every step closer helped. The cliff was a constant downhill slope. It wasn't too steep but Nightflame needed to be careful pulling the cart so it doesn't fly down the cliff side.

As we kept walking the bitter cold stung my wet hooves and the tips of my ears. Suddenly however, I felt a warmth touch my ear. It was curious, and it felt like somepony was there. For a moment I got excited and looked back to see if maybe, just maybe, crimson was standing there and had brushed my ear. When I turned around there was nothing... Just more snow, but still I felt the warmth on my ear. I looked over to my ear to see a faint glow, I bent my ear down to get a better look and a little firefly was sitting on it smiling. I had completely forgotten about sprite... She must have hid away in crimsons bags. And once more I also noticed shadow tail is missing too.

" hey guys..." I said. " where's shadow tail?" I asked.

" huh... He's right... Over...uhh... Where is her?" Said thunder rush.

" did he even leave with us?" Asked Nightflame.

" I'm not even sure... He was with us this morning in the house... He must have run off when we weren't looking." I said. " I've been so distracted... I didn't even notice sprite here was with us... I honestly just thought it was the three of us."

" I was wondering about that too..." Said Nightflame.

" well shadow tail really seems to favor crimson... I guess he might have run off to go find him..." Said thunder rush.

" I guess that makes sense..." I said. I put my eyes back on the trail and right below I saw a huge rift . Huge walls of stone perturbed from the ground and rose up in spikes around the forest below us. I could see there were two paths. This must be the intersection the king was talking about. I pointed it out to the others. " look... Up ahead." I said.

" huh... Ahh... That must be the intersection the king was talking about." Said thunder rush. We kept walking forward and it soon started to become clearer and clearer. And when we finally stood before the intersection I looked between both ridges. They, were both exactly the same... Which was troubling. Looking down both ridges there didn't seem to be anything wrong with either of them. The rock walls towered above both paths and seemed impossible to climb.

" so the king said to stay away from razor ridge..." Said Nightflame.

" yeah... But which one is razor ridge." I pointed out.

" we'll that's easy it's... Well... Ah crap." He said.

" what the fuck!" Exclaimed thunder rush. " they're exactly the same... How are we supposed to know."

" how come the king didn't give us a direction or be more specific like stay away from the left path... Or something." Said Nightflame.

" I don't think he needed too." I said walking over to a suspicious item of the ground. There was a chunk of wood perturbing from the snowy ground. " look at this." I said pointing to the wooden chunk laying in between the two paths.

" what is it?" Asked thunder.

" it looks like it might have been a sign post... So there was a sign here once." I said pointing it out. " I guess somepony must have taken it down... It probably pointed out the two paths... But now we're clueless."

" whoever did this is an asshole..." Said Nightflame. I didn't really want to say anything but I agree with him. Somepony who would stray wandering ponies down potentially dangerous path must be a real jerk and a horrible pony.

" so... Which way do we go?" Asked thunder rush. We looked between the two paths and sprite just sit curiously on my ear unaware of our predicament. There must be something of a hint as to which one is dangerous... If we knew what was so dangerous about it then maybe we would be able to figure it out better... But I don't think that would help either. Both paths looked pretty much the same. Just a snow covered, hoof beaten path in between two giant walls of stone.

" if crimson was here he would be able to figure it out... Even if he couldn't we wouldn't have to worry... He could handle whatever was in our way." I said letting out a deep sigh. I looked back and forth between the two paths in a desperate attempt to figure out the correct choice... But there still isn't any clear decision. "I... I guess our only hope is... To guess." I said giving up and putting our fate into the hands of luck.

" well which do you think?" Thunder asked looking at me.

" I'm thinking the left one... It only makes sense. We're going west and the left path goes west." Said Nightflame. He had a very good point there.

" yeah... I guess that does make sense." I said.

"Alright... Left it is I guess." Said thunder rush. We started walking and I could feel my tension building with every step we took. I felt like if we had chose wrong the walls would just close on us and crush us in an instant. Nightflame walked in with the cart and then thunder followed. I slowly made my way in next. I took one step past the large walls and slowly walked in. Just then all my anxiety peaked... But when nothing happened I felt relieved almost.

" the walls haven't closed in on us... The ground is still under our feet, and I don't see any signs of terrible creatures dwelling in the shadows... I think we made the right choice." I said bringing light to the situation. The others just looked around cautiously.

" yes, but we just walked in... We have to give it some time." Said thunder rush.

" I guess you're right." I said. I could feel something shaking my ear. I looked over to see sprite shaking and shielding herself with my right ear. I smiled and brought my hoof up to hold her. She was adorable, I have to admit. I guess now I can see why crimson has grown fond of her. Her innocence seems to make everything more... Bearable. " hey hey don't worry." I said to sprite in a low friendly voice as I grabbed her from behind my ear and held her in my hoof. " we're going to be fine... I'm sure that nothing bad is going to happen, I can tell." I said. She seemed to perk up and smile. She jumped around in a small circle in my hoof and I let her fly up back to my ear and sit down on it.

" I really wish crimson were here right now..." Said Derek.

" me too..." Is said.

" wait..." Blurted out Nightflame. We all stopped and he put his ear up and looked behind us. We had gone a ways from the entrance but it was still pretty close.

" what is it?" Asked thunder rush.

" do you hear that?"

" hear what?" I asked.

" shhh listen..." He said. We all went quiet. There wasn't any sound that I could really pick up. We listened closely. And soon I heard something... It was so faint I'm not really sure If I did hear something or its just my mind. But I heard it again and again until it grew into on quiet and constant sound. It was like a mix between the rumble of an earthquake and a ghostly moan. Suddenly behind us at the entrance to the ridge a large spike of earth shot up from the ground. Needless to say it scared all three of us. Then another one and another.

" shit.. Run." Said thunder rush. We turned tail and began to sprint. We ran and ran, and spikes of earth just kept shooting up from the ground behind us, growing closer and closer. The spike even shot spikes from them, like a tangle of needles. If we got caught in that we would be ripped to shreds. I don't think we made the rot choice. We ran and yelled and breathed heavily. Me and thunder ran past Nightflame who was still pulling the cart. He lagged behind and I looked back afraid for him. Suddenly a giant spike of earth shot up from right behind him and completely obliterated the cart he was pulling. The contents of everything was thrown everywhere from the tents, to the food, to the gold in crimsons chest... It was everywhere. Luckily with the weight gone he was able to catch up.

We ran as fast as we could but spike flew out from everywhere. From the walls and ground spikes were everywhere. Soon the torrent caught up with us and we had to dodge spike after spike. I looked over to thunder who just dodged left to avoid a spike. I ran to the right and dodged one too. Nightflame went to dodge one and just as he was passing by it, another spike shot from the one he was dodging and I thought it hit him.

" Nightflame...!" I yelled as helmet out a shout of pain. I though he would fall, but thank the gods he didn't. He stumbled a bit but kept running. Soon enough up ahead spikes began to slowly close down and shoot up like teeth from a dragon. They were closing the entrance to some kind of cave. There was a stone bridge overhead. We ran and ran while our only chance of escape was slowly closing on us. I put everything i had into moving forward and so did the others seeing what was up ahead. We came only a few feet from the entrance which was almost completely closed. I made one last ditch attempt of survival and dove for it. Luckily I managed to pass right by the cracks of the stone spikes, as well as the others. We all hit the ground and the spikes closed shut.

The spikes of earth no longer shot up from the ground behind us and everything went silent except for the faint sound of trickling rocks and heavy breathing. I couldn't say anything right now, I needed to catch my breath. But I think we all knew that we had chosen wrong. I was feeling scared. The place we dived into that I though was a cave wasn't a cave, it was still a ridge... Covered in stone spikes. The spikes were razor sharp and all over the place. I slowly pulled myself onto my four hooves and looked around in shock. Rite was trembling behind my ear scared for her life. I patted her and tried to comfort her but she was really scared... I was too.

" oh god... Oh god no." Said thunder. " I was sure we made the right decision... That was too close." He said. After the air was filled with nightflames cries of pain.

" ahh... Crap... Dammit." He said on the ground clutching his wing.

" Nightflame..." I said rushing over to him, under did the same.

" are you alright... Are you hurt badly?" Asked thunder rush

" I... Ahh... I think one of those spikes clipped my wing." He said. " all I can feel from my right wing is pain."

" c'mon... Move your hoof, let us see." Asked thunder.

" hnng... Uhh... Oh god." He said removing his hoof from the wound. His hoof and the feathers of his wing were covered in blood. There was a deep gash on his wing and it had cut rot through the bone. " I... I'm sorry...I ... The supplies... They're gone." He said with sympathy in his voice.

" I know..." I said. " but its better that the supplies got caught in the spikes than you getting caught in them... I'm just glad you're alright. We're all pretty lucky to have just made it out of that... That was scary..." I said.

" I can still feel my heart beating." Said thunder.

" twilight... Do you know any healing spells?" Asked Nightflame.

" yes... They're not great ones though..." I admitted. " I can probably stop the bleeding and close the wound a little... But I can't fully heal you... I'm sorry." I said.

" that's fine just... Please... Do your best." He said. I closed my eyes and focused on a healing spell I learned a while back. My horn began to glow and I brought it close to nightflame's wing. The light from my horn soon started to cover the wounds on his wing and the whole area glowed bright purple. Soon the light subsided and I lifted my horn up. The wound looked much better than it did and wasn't bleeding anymore.

" thank you..." Said Nightflame. Thinking quickly I see my magic to tear off the bottom part of my dress and make it into a length of cloth. I levitated it over to Nightflame and used it to tie his wing down into a makeshift cast. My robes are now a bit shorter and revile my flank, but it was for a good cause. I'm also not sure if the magic enhancement on the robe still works with it torn like this, but if it does I guess Nightflame has some magical enhancement now too. If not then I've still got the staff crimson gave me which... Was... On the cart... Fuck.

" thank you twilight." Said Nightflame.

" can you stand?" I asked.

" yes..." He said turning over and getting up on his hooves. He didn't look hurt other than that.

" so we lost the cart... My bags got ripped torn and fell of." Said thunder rush.

" the staff crimson gave me was on that cart. We lost all our food, crimsons chest, my staff, your bags, the tents and all the medical supplies." I said taking inventory of what we lost. " so what have we got?" I asked looking around.

" my uh... My bags were on the cart..." Said Nightflame. I had to take them off to make room for the carts harness..." He said looking a bit bent down about it... I guess at this point it wouldn't matter if we had literally nothing.

" we'll I've got crimsons bags... I think that's all we have now." I said. I guess it's kind of nice that his bags survived out of all the others. It did keep him somewhat close to us.

" well that's must be good..." Said thunder rush. " he must keep a bunch of useful stuff in there determining what his life is like."

" we should check it and see if there's anything of use." Said Nightflame.

" good idea." I said. I sat down and took off the bag and put it in front of me. The others sat around and we made a space in the middle to put his stuff or anything useful. " I know he won't mind, he would understand if he knew what our situation was."

" alright twilight... Open it up and let's see what we have to work with." Said Nightflame. Is nodded in agreement and opened up his left pouch. And to say the least it was filled with tons of junk. How he finds anything in this bag is a mystery. I looked around and started pulling some stuff out. It seemed to keep filling back up with stuff, I guess he likes to use that infinite storage enchantment I put on here for him.

" alright we have...potions... Useful, gauze, a few bottles of water, some gold and gems, scrolls and ink, a book or two on... Gypsy magic... Huh. Lets see what else... Huh... What's this." I said seeing something that caught my eye. It was a bow... How did he fit this in here. I grabbed the bow and pulled it out. It was familiar... I know now. This is that transfusional weapon crimson found in the abandoned mermaid kingdom.

" a bow?" Said thunder. " how does he fit a bow in there?"

" if I'm correct this bow doesn't need arrows. It fires bolts of magic... Anypony good with it?" I asked.

" I'm a good shot, plus I don't have a weapon yet... Or had one." Said Nightflame.

" If I'm right this should also change into a sword and a staff... But I don't know how to make it change. " is said. " plus I lost my staff back in the ridge."

" I've still got my trusty... God dammit." Said thunder rush staring at the torn and shredded holster by his side. His sword must have been torn off and he didn't even notice. " well I guess I don't then..." He said. " perfect."

" alright... Well the weapon is a bow right now and we don't know how to change it... So it's better that Nightflame take the bow." I said passing it over to Nightflame. He grabbed it and looked at it. He strung it over his back and we carried on. " oh and here... This bottle is labeled as a health potion Nightflame... You should probably drink some of it." I said passing over the bottle to Nightflame.

" yeah... That sounds like a good idea." He said uncorking the bottle. He took a small sip of it and wretched. He stuck his tongue out and cringed. He placed the cork back on the vail and shook his head. " holy crap that tastes foul..." He said.

" we'll they're not supposed to taste good... But they help." I said smiling. " now lets see what else." I said looking back in the pouch. I rummaged through it a bit more but couldn't find anything else of much use. I closed it up and checked the second one. I opened it up and stuck gold. It was full of food, water and alcohol. I smiled, not at the alcohol, but the food and water. I never realized how hungry I was before. " oh thank god... There's a bunch of food and drinks in here."

" oh gross... Why does he keep food in there?" Asked thunder rush.

" well from what I can tell... It's all magically sealed, so it should still be fresh." I said. " I wouldn't imagine why it wouldn't be... Plus the alcohol doesn't expire." I said.

" wait... Alcohol..." Said thunder rush.

" uhh..."

" quick let me see." He said snatching the bag.

" hey..."

" jackpot... I could really use a drink." He said grabbing a bottle of scotch. "

" don't go getting drunk... We need our wits about us..." I said.

" don't worry twi... Just a little to drown the nerves."

" here let me get some of that when you done... I need a bit to drown the pain and taste of health potion out of my mouth." Said Nightflame.

" here I'll get us some food too, and some water." I said grabbing something for us to eat." Thunder took a swig of the alcohol and so did Nightflame. I turned away to go through the bag for a bit. When I looked back up the bottle they had was already a third gone. I used my magic and pulled it from their hooves. " alright that's enough..." I said putting the cork back on the bottle and putting it back. I passed them some food and we all choked down. They didn't seem wasted or drunk in the very slightest yet so I guess that's good...but I'll have to watch out for them... There's no telling what's in this ridge. I have a bad feeling that the risky spike death trap we just escaped from isn't the last of our worries... on second though. i quietly grabbed the bottle of scotch from earlier and took a swig while thunder and nightflame weren't looking. i was wrong about it not being strong... because it is.

i figured we should sit here and rest for a while and try and get some strength back up. maybe gather our nerves and figure something out. we need to come up with some kind of plan to get out of here, but with all these razor sharp spikes and the exit now blocked i really don't see any other way out but to push through this pit. nightflame cane fly us out because of his wing, and that will take to long to heal to working condition. so until then we can just sit here in the small and seemingly safe location we landed in. i can't help but feel like we're being watched though. i can feel eyes all over me... waiting... watching. i am genuinely scared and need to get out of here soon... i just hope that crimson comes back to help us out... i hope he isn't gone.

****at least, for what its worth, i hope he isn't.


	35. Chapter 35: Dereks lament, Ascension 2

**-The following chapter is shown through the eyes of DEREK/THUNDER RUSH-**

crimson is the best friend i could really ever have. hes always been there and hes the greatest guy i know. even before we got pulled into this mess with the dream arch i knew he would always do some pretty awesome things... but this is unbelievable. the way he has changed is almost impossible to describe. what he has become is something that i never thought could exist... a God.

i have to respect crimson and his beliefs, but i never was much of a holy man. i'm an atheist... so i'm not always liable to jump to prayer in a time of need. but what crimson has become just completely blew all my beliefs out of the window... long before i knew he was a god. and i can sure as hell say that i need to change my point of views, but i'm not sure how or what i should change them to. i kind of wonder that if i spray to crimson now, will he here me? could he even talk back to me? i'm not sure what to think.

the scene at the ruins earlier today was just unbelievable. there was no way anypony could have seen that coming from a mile away, but now that we know... it makes so much sense. i've never been one to be jealous, but i'm going to admit that i am pretty jealous of him. i've never been one to admit something like that, and i sure as hell won't do it outloud. but i can't even begin to imagine what he's going through right now... i'm sure its got to be harsh on him though. the way he just snapped like that was unbelievable, i've never seen him like that.

he isn't an angry person... he really isn't. i've known him for as long as i can remember and he isn't an angry or spiteful person... but he has been lately. i must imagine that all of this must be putting an unbelievable amount of pressure on him... that would explain why hes been so stressed and disgruntled lately. i almost feel sorry for him, knowing that half that pressure he carries is because he looks over us. everypony he loves and cares for, those ponies seem to be his top priority... that only makes sense why he snapped when this demon guy took rainbow dash from him.

i'm not really sure when i'll get to see crimson again. part of me feels like hes never coming back... that he just quit. but i know deep inside that he would sooner die a million deaths than give up on his loved ones. i know that he will be coming back, he wouldn't let anything hurt us. i know he never could, it's not in his blood to let his friends down. but i feel terrible about all of this, i feel like i'm always letting him down... like i'm not being careful enough. i always feel like i'm causing him more and more trouble... but i know that he would forgive me.

****crimson i'm sorry...


	36. Chapter 36: Red Dawn, Ascension 3

**- this chapter is the most important and will be further elaborated in the future chapters-**

**-The following chapter is shown through the eyes of CRIMSON BLAST-**

the last of the elemental lords was gone now... leaving me on this mountain to reflect. i sat down on the cold snow and thought. everything around me seemed to vanish. i thought... but i couldn't see what i was supposed to get. i can't stay up on this mountain forever... i need to get back to my friends. but... i feel so lost. i don't know what to do anymore... i can't figure out what i'm supposed to do. i feel like everything i do is only hurting the ones around me. i feel like every move i make is just pushing me closer to the edge. i thought harder and harder... i almost felt like screaming, but before i did there was a flash of light. i looked back in curiosity and saw mirella.

" crimson... you can't hope to understand this over night... you need time." she said.

"then give me time... please." i begged. "i need to know this... i can't go back until i do."

"why can you not...?" asked mirella.

"because..." i stopped for a pause. "because i..."

"crimson you are powerful enough... you don't need this all now." she said.

"but i do... i need it because... because i made a promise." i said.

"a promise?"

"YES, a promise. i promise no harm would come to my friends, i promised that i would protect them and that nothing would happen, i promised that i would always be there for them... that i would never give up... i've made so many promises to my friends... and each one i've been unable to keep because something stops me from honoring them... but i'm going to keep this promise... please... give me the time... i'll train, i'll learn... i'll became what i'm meant to... please... i promise." i said begging now for a way to get time. she seemed completely taken away by my sentiments.

"crimson..." she said looking at me as i looked back. she let out a deep sigh. "fine... i can give you time... and me and the other gods will teach you... you will learn... but i must warn you." she said.

"yes, what anything." i blurted out.

"i can bring you to a place where we will train you for a thousand years and when you come back it will only be tomorrow morning..."

"one... one thousand years!" i exclaimed. could i really do that... one thousand years.

"yes... one thousand years you will train in all the elements and aspects of universal knowledge and harmony... you will be more than ready to take on you're role a peacekeeper. but heed my warning crimson... there will be no brakes, no sleep, and no stopping. once you enter through the portal you will be in there for one thousand years... are you ready for this." she said. "don't blurt out 'yes'... think about it crimson." she said one more time as she waved her hands and a bright white portal opened up out of thin air.

"yes... i'm ready for this."

"crimson I..."

"ive never been more sure of anything in my life." i roared back at her as i cut her off. "i'm tired of feeling like a constant disappointment to my friends and family. i'm tired of feeling like they aren't safe around me... i want them to have that peace of mind... i want them to be safe, and i will do ANYTHING for them..." mirella let out a deep sigh and looked up at me smiling.

"then we better get started." she said walking into the portal. i followed her through eagerly not really knowing what i was getting myself into. and as soon as i stepped through and the portal closed i was scared, i didn't know what this was going to be like and i don't want to have this turn sour on me in a week. when we came through the portal we ended up in a perfectly flat, grey plane. the ground was just ordinary stone and the sky was dark and cloudy... perfect, i guess.

"let us begin..." said mirella.

and so we did... we started and for the next THOUSAND years... i trained. it was hell... nothing else to say but that it was absolute hell. the first week was when it started getting to me... then it only got worse and worse. luckily after the first century the pain subsided and i carried on with my training. soon it became fluent... i moved like a machine, with no real purpose... but somehow with the fires of passion burning in me. days turned into weeks, and weeks into years. and before i knew it another century passed. there were no days and no night's... it seemed like it dragged on for all of eternity... like it was one demonically long day.

then it started happening... by the halfway marker at the fifth century i had already began to forget... forget everything. names places and most ponies. i had the faint vision of several ponies in my mind that never seemed to leave, but no names to go with them. i no longer had any recollection of my life outside of this place. i could remember my promises though, and one that stayed deep inside my mind was the promise to a king. it was to help him in his desperate attempt to take control of his land again from the evil red armies. that promise, along with others, stayed buried deep in my mind with the faces and figures of many ponies, no names though... just faces.

i trained with every element there was. fire, nature, water, light, darkness, thunder, earth, air, life, and death. each god constantly watching me, teaching me... testing me. it was grueling... both mentally and physically. there was no easy teaching either. i often ended up getting hurt and tossed around. i had to fight false enemies to show off my skills and heal my own wounds. it was intense and it never stopped. i didn't sleep, eat, drink, use the bathroom, or rest. each day i became stronger and stronger. every year i reached a whole new level of power. and then one day... the day i never thought existed. it was the last day of the one thousandth year. i had just finished fighting off an army of stone dummies.

"alright crimson... this is it." said mirella.

"what is?" i asked in a new grizzled voice. my left eye had gone bad from a training accident but i can still see far better than perfectly out of it. it was scared and milky. i had scars all over me and my skin was tougher than leather. i had grown to be at least seven feet or so. i had become incredibly fit and very muscular. and over the thousand years my hair had faded into a long white rag of a mane. i had a short grizzled, white beard as well. my armor was plated and spiked with chains running across it for decoration. my hood and my cape where white now and torn from the training... i had become greater than before.

"this is you're final test." said mirella standing with the other gods.

"f-final test... what do you mean?" i asked.

"today is the 365th day of the thousandth year... this is the last day of you're training." she said smiling... and you're final test is to demonstrate all that you have learned."

" alright..." i said. i faced away and looked to the open world in front of me.

"when you're ready..." she said.

i took in a deep breath and began to focus all of my energy. after a second the ground under me cracked and sunk three inches. the cracks spread across the flat area. they let out golden white light. i pulled in all my energy and finally i released it in the most impressive and terrifying display of concentrated power ever witnessed. i performed literally everything i learned. the land in front of me was completely and utterly destroyed. my marking began to glow and so did my eyes and wings.

spikes of earth and shadow shot up from the ground. beams of powerful light burst through the clouds and lightning accompanied them. spouts of red hot lava shot up from the ground and water washed over the area in a giant wave that i quickly froze and shot spikes of ice form. tornadoes touched down from the sky and it started raining ash and red hot cinders. roots with large thorns over them spread across the ground and weaved in and out of the stone. a fog of death washed over the ground while beams of life parted the clouds in the sky and shone light on the ground. mirella smiled behind me as she watched the spectacle which spread for miles and miles on end.

i settled down and lowered my power. the magic performed slowly sunk back down and the world started to heal itself. the lava stopped tornados vanished and ice melted and washed away. the ground patched back up and the clouds covered the sky again. it was like it had never actually happened. i stopped glowing and folded my wings back into my side and took a few deep breaths. i turned over to the other gods, but they were gone... it was just mirella. she was smiling which gave me an abundance of hope and happiness... feelings that i had not felt for hundreds of years.

"congratulations crimson... you've fully ascended to the title of God..." she said. her smile made me smile which is also something i hadn't done for hundreds of years. these emotions of happiness and joy felt new to me, but i felt like i knew them... it was like deja vu.

"so does that mean...?"

"yes..." said mirella finishing my sentence. "you can now return to you're world... i know you may have forgotten everything you once knew... but unfortunately i can only return some parts of you're memory... you should be able to do the rest on you're own.

"thank you..." i said smiling. she smiled back and waved her hand up and it glowed a bright light. soon everything when white. and then i felt cold... there was something under my feet now, a strangely familiar feeling. i opened my eyes and everything was still white... but not as much as before. i was on the top of the mountain again now. i could remember a few things. i could remember my quest and who i was going after, i also knew the pony i'm going after is my wife... but i can't remember her name.

i remember my current job now. to help the king with his scarlet army problem... that should be today. and i remember that i'm travelling with my friends. i can remember their faces, but no names still. i know where i need to be, and what i need to do. i was reborn again... but this time, i'm SO much more ready than i've ever been before. from now on nothing will stand in my way. i am that i am, and what i uphold is the basis of good itself. i am no stranger to change, i push forward stubbornly with fire in my heart and eyes. i am in control and i will change to the needs of other. i am strong and fast as well as cunning and agile. i am the bringer of life and peace, as well as a harbinger of death and punishment... i am that i am. i am crimson... rightfully proclaimed god of balance, i uphold peace, justice, and harmony.

****And i'm ready for what the world has to throw at me.


	37. Chapter 37: Love Of The Sun, Ascension 4

**-The following chapter is shown through the eyes of PRINCESS CELESTIA-**

i finally had a break from my royal duties... today was my day off to just relax. its about time i had one of these, its been too long. i got up from the throne and walked over to the window. i stopped at the window and looked over my kingdom. i couldn't help but look up at the sun. i started thinking about crimson and wondering if hes staring at the sun now too and thinking about me, because that's all i've been doing, is thinking about him. i hope he is safe. i wasn't very eager to send him in the right path for this journey, i didn't want him to get hurt... but the fire in his eyes was burning so furiously i thought that if i denied him any help he would shoot that fire right at me.

i have confidence that he will do what is necessary to get through this. i can feel it in my heart that he is going to pull through this. but i would hate for him to not return. i'm eagerly waiting for when he does... but who knows how long it will be until then. i know that my faithful student is with him... i'm glad. he will protect her and in a way she can protect him. she can act as a beacon of hope to force him onward... and i know he sees her that way. he's for too protective. but i care for him, he's become much like me in a way... but i almost wish he wasn't.

i've been stuck in this castle for millennia after millennia. always waiting and hoping something will happen. even though i can leave these castle walls, the walls can't leave me. i'll always be bound here. this is my fate. to keep my kingdom in order. it isn't easy and it isn't fun... but it is necessary. i make these sacrifices for the wellbeing of others. that is one of the ways me and him are alike. but i don't want us to become too alike. i don't want him to feel trapped, like he is confined to only one job. i never saw any good from what hes going through. i can put on a good fake smile, but i can see the pain, misery and pressure inside him. he's been keeping it in and letting it fester into something terrible. hes already gone through so much... i fear that if he goes through any more he might collapse.

i hate to see him suffer... and he's been suffering for as long as i've known him. when i first met him that one fateful day, i never though much of him. but now i can't stop thinking about him. i always tolerated him and thought that he wouldn't cause trouble. i gave him his second chance at life no knowing how long it will last... but now i see it will last for the rest of time. i never saw this coming, never saw the signs... there weren't any. he keeps it all to himself, as not to bother others. he's a lot like me and much like his friends.

timid and respectful like fluttershy, doesn't want to bother the other ponies and is always kind. generous like rarity, and from time to time can be a bit full of himself. loyal like his wife rainbow dash and he always does his best and never gives up. honest like applejack, and strong working and courteous. and he has incredible magical power like my faithful student twilight. he is smart and dependable and always excels in anything he tries to accomplish. he is a very interesting pony for certain... and i never would have known that the first time i ever met him.

but i know better than anypony how these things can get to you. i know what its like to feel the way he feels lately. to have all this pressure on you're head and nopony else to carry it with. the feeling of carrying the problems of others so they don't have to be burdened with them. i know the feeling all too well, but i feel as if crimson has more weight on his hooves than i've ever had. i know what its like to be stuck doing the same thing over and over again for thousands of years. he isn't used to that... yet. but i have to thank him really... he's the only one who has ever honestly tried to become my friend. sure i have twilight and her friends who are all wonderful ponies and great company, but crimson see's me differently. i see him in a different way as well. not like one of my subjects, but as somepony else.

he is the only one he tried to make me laugh and smile and have fun. all those years ago when he had just received his first taste of power. that incident with the curse, he changed... and now he has become something else. i remember our discussion in the garden. he told me i need to learn how to relax and have fun... he actually made me see how to have fun again. then not too long ago before the wedding of shining armor and cadence... that night we spent together... i'll never forget that night. and then the day before he left to go on his new journey. that moment before he left the castle, when we kissed. i'll never forget that either.

that kiss has been haunting me the past month while he's been gone. every second of it, all stuck in my head. the passion radiating from his very soul was warmer than the rays of my sun. i had never been so sure what to think of crimson, i was confused... he's so mysterious and secluded... always hiding his problems. but i can see now that i have always had these strange feelings for him... since the first time we met. these feelings i have for him now weigh heavily on my heart and i can't deny it any longer. that moment... the second we kissed. i knew my feelings for him. and i can say no differently that he may have feelings for me now... but his may now be very unsure at the time. i know how i feel about him though.

****"crimson, i hope you're safe...I... I love you.".


	38. Chapter 38: Reunited, Ascension 5

**-This chapter is shown through the eyes of TWILIGHT SPARKLE-**

We sat in that cave for a while catching our breath and preparing for the trek ahead of us. I guess we have to get going at some point though, so I started packing up all of crimsons stuff and put it all back in the bag. I threw the bag over my back and strapped it on tight. Thunder rush and Nightflame took this as a sign that we're leaving now. They let out a simultaneous sigh and stood up as well. I walked over to the side of them and looked out over the ridge. Luckily there was a clear path, but it was full of cave like holes that ran all the up the walls and spikes of earth jetted out from all kinds of places. There were a lot of spikes that branched out over the top of the ridge, it acted as a sort of partial roof and slivers of the suns light shone through on the ground.

" well... We better get going..." I said. " we can't stay in here forever."

" right..." Agreed thunder stretching out his back. " let's go." So we started to press forward into the ride and we moved cautiously. I still couldn't shake the feeling of us being watched. As we slowly made our way through the cave I became more and more paranoid with every step, feeling like that at any moment something would jump out of the darkness and stick me with a sword. I walked in between thunder and Nightflame keeping my head down in fear. They could see I was a bit scared by the way they looked at me. They seemed to certain, especially thunder rush who is used to this kind of thing, but they must be a little nervous at the least.

" are you alright twilight?" Asked Nightflame. " you seem nervous..."

" I... I am, I'm a bit scared... I'm not used to this kind of stuff." I admitted hoping they might comfort me.

" hey don't worry about it twi." Chimed thunder rush smiling. " you're a tough mare and great with magic... I'm sure you'll be able to face this, besides you've gone on an adventure with crimson before, haven't you?"

" not a real adventure... Sure I do a bunch of stuff around Equestria... Like bringing Cerberus back to the gates of Tartarus... Or fighting off discord... But that was different, those weren't like this... I've had crazy adventures before, but I've never felt so alone through them."

" well we're here twilight... We're your friends." Said Nightflame.

" I know, you and thunder, you're great friends, and its not that kind of loneliness." I admitted. " I just feel like something is missing."

" is it crimson?" Asked thunder.

" huh?"

" is it crimson?" He repeated.

" I... Yes. I miss him, I know he's only been gone for a day and that he has been away longer... But this time was different... This time I feel like he left not because he needed to... But he just left out of pure frustration and anger... Like he had just abandoned us."

" twilight..." Said a strange voice from nowhere. I quickly snapped my head back to look behind me but there was nothing, nopony else around, it wasn't the other two.

" what?... What is it?" Asked thunder.

" I... You didn't hear it?" I asked.

" hear what?" Asked Nightflame.

" that voice... It said my name... You didn't hear it?" I said again even more confused now.

" n-no... We didn't." Said thunder. " I think it's just the pressure getting to you... C'mon lets get going." He said gesturing that we move onward. I let my head down and started walking again. I picked it up at a faint sound someplace in the back of my head. I looked around the ridge but I saw nothing.

" twilight..." Said the strange voice again. I decided not to make a public announcement of it this time and just listened scared and confused. " I would never leave you... You must press on... I'll be waiting for you twilight... Just look for the light at the end of the dark tunnel, and you'll find me..." Said the voice, it was familiar could it be... It can't though. Can it really be him, but, it sounds nothing like him... Maybe to tone of voice is somewhat similar, but there's so much more to the voice now... Like had had completely changed. Even just through hearing his voice I could feel the immense power he had now... It was so much more than I had ever felt on him.

Suddenly at the very end of the long and twisted path through razor sharp rocks there was a light blue gleam on light. Then in the air a beam of pure white energy shot up into the air and soon faded, leaving the light at the end of the ridge. The others looked at it in confusion and shock, I saw something else... Hope. I knew that if we could get to that light we would meet crimson again. I would be so happy to see him. And slowly a fierce gust of wind picked up behind us and blew towards the light. It soon stopped and we looked back at the strange gust of wind.

" follow the light..." Said a voice in my head, at least I thought it was in my head. When I saw thunder and Nightflame looking around confused and nervous I knew they could hear it too. " follow the light at the end of the dark tunnel... Follow the light." It said.

" what the hell?" Exclaimed thunder.

" could that be...?"

" I think it's crimson." I said smiling now and feeling much more confident. It didn't take us long to realize that running towards the light right now was probably the best thing for all of us to do. We looked at each other for a brief moment then began to sprint towards the light. We ran and ran and weaved in and out of the rocky spikes poking up from the ground. Every time I took a step I felt... Well, better. Like everything I ever worried about was now gone and put behind me. We kept running and running and the light was so close now. I could feel its warmth. And right as we reached the light, everything went wrong. Suddenly and instantly huge spikes of earth fired up form all angles and cut off the very path we had to our last hope. The light shone through the cracks, mocking us of our failure.

" no... NO!" Exclaimed thunder.

" dammit..." I said furiously. " you can't do this..." I said like I had been cheated of my own life, I might as well have. Soon there was a strange noise from behind us. We looked back in fright to see the true reason why this path is dangerous. From the holes and dark caves in the wal crawled out something terrifying... They were ponies, or well... The skeletons of ponies. Their bones were raw and yellowed out form age and their eyes glowed faint blue. Some kind of dark smoke swirled around inside of their rib cages and seemed to carry them onward. The crawled out from every hole somehow sticking to the walls. They seemed very angry.

" what the fuck... Dammit." Said thunder. " get back..." He said charging his horn and firing off a blast of devastating magic they blew up on impacts in a haze of blue smoke and shattered the skeletons of several ponies. I did the same, but I didn't know great attack magic. I fired of a blast at a time at each individual skeleton and they shattered from the force. Thunders attacks were powerful but they took him awhile to fire off, I could fire mine of very fast. Nightflame very hastily took the bow from his back. He lines it up pulled it back and a blue arrow of light started to glow brightly on the bow.

He let the arrow loose and it flew through the air and hit the first skeleton in the head with the armor. The force caused the skeleton to burst be stroking the others around it, and the arrow continued through that skeleton and hit the next one and the one after that, so on and so on until it hit was wall and shattered. He looked at the bow with surprise and smiled. He pulled it back again and let another one fire off. It did the same thing and he smiled. He pulled one more back, but this time strangely it started glowing red, and so was his horn. He didn't notice his horn was glowing at the time and when he did he saw that it must have been some kind of magical connection between him and the weapon. He smiled and let the arrow loose.

It whirled through the air in a spiral of fire whirling behind it as it cleaved a path of fire in its trail. It hit the first skeleton and it burst into flames and caused a large explosion that cleared a large hole in the horde of skeletons. That whole was filled up quickly though soon after. I did my best at blasting away as many skeletons as I could but it wasn't merely as effective as the others spells and attacks. Thunder fired off another spell, this time he launched a ball of lit into the air and It shot straight up. It peaked and started falling. As I grew closer it burst into a flurry of smaller bolts of magic. Each one hit the ground in a devastating blast that rained from the air. These skeletons were weak but there were so many of them.

" there has to be an end to them." I said blasting away a few more skeletons rapidly.

" it's not looking like that..." Said thunder who was resting from his last attack. He charged his horn again and fire a few rapid but less powerful blasts of blue light just like mine.

" take that you bag of bones..." Said Nightflame who pulled another arrow back that glowed red. He fired it off and it blew the horde of skeletons back a few feet. This wasn't enough, we couldn't keep this up forever.

" where is crimson when you need him." I said getting worried for my own life. Poor little sprite was terrified and hiding in my mane now.

" ask and you shall be heard..." Said a powerful voice from right behind us. We stopped everything and looked back to the wall of spikes. The light behind it started glowing brighter and started shining through the cracks even more. The spikes began to crack and break. And soon the whole wall burst sending chunks of rock flying everywhere. We covered ourselves from the blast and looked back at the light. The horde of skeletons seemed to stop in their tracks... They seemed afraid now. From the light a figure emerged. It glowed brightly and wore large metal and glowing armor with spikes and chains for decoration. He was huge, at least seven feet tall and much larger than celestia even.

His hoofsteps cracked the very ground and light shone through them... But, it couldn't be crimson. The stallion had grey fur that was scared and damages with light glowing symbols running through them. He had a long white mane and tail with a short white beard. He hid under his hood but I could see his face. One eye was scarred and damaged, it looked like he was blind in that one eye. The left ear was torn and he had scar running across his face. The figure was not only tall and scary looking, but he was incredibly muscular, you could somehow see it through his armor... You can just tell. He walked forward and walked past us. We watched in confusion and awe, he kept his eyes set on the horde of skeletons.

" begone evil... Crawl back into the darkness with which you foolishly hide." He said in a deep and powerful voice. It was full of energy and very caring, it made me feel safe. It reminded me of crimsons voice, but this one was different. The skeletal horde looked at the largely and let out a fierce roar. They began to run at him, but he quickly stopped them. Without flinching or moving or ever saying a word, the whole entire area in front of him soon erupted into a wall of pure white light. The cracking of rock and the breaking of bones filled the air along with the boom and rumble of his blast. The blinding light forced our eyes away from it, and when it faded we looked back.

The ridge was no gone. Just a giant and long crater cunt through the mountains. There were no more skeletons or even any remains to prove they existed in the first place. The entire razor ridge was destroyed completely in the blast and it no longer exists anymore... It was over. I stared at the large pony as did thunder and Nightflame. He kept staring off at the wreckage he had created for a moment before looking back in surprise to see us. He smiled and took a few steps over. He walked over smiling, I felt safe and scared at the same time, it was confusing. He stood before us and I felt greatly inferior to him, like he could accidentally step on me and I would be dead. Then... He started laughing, this confused me the most. He had a very friendly and hearty laugh but it was awkward for us.

" HAHAHA... I thought I would never see you guys again." He said smiling and looking over the three of us. His very figure blocked out the sun from my angle and made it hard to see him now.

" wh- what?" Stuttered thunder. " who... Who are you.".

" c'mon you guys... It's me..." He said. " crimson." ... What, but, how can this be. He looks, totally different from crimson. It can't be him, it must be some kind of joke, but... He looks and sounds so much like crimson. His face and those eyes... Those deep hazel eyes and his sarcastic, witty but loving and kind voice matched up. But nothing else did... But if feels like it should be crimson.

" c-crimson... Is that really you?" I asked cautiously.

" twilight it's so good to see you... I haven't seen you three in a thousand years." I guess he I-... Wait... WHAT? One thousand years, how the hell is that possible. He left yesterday. It hasn't even been twenty four hours and he said he's been gone for one thousand years. It has to be some kind of joke, a spell of something. Is he from the future or something... I'm so confused right now, and I can tell he could see it on my face. He gave me a strange look like I was acting weird, which I may have been.

" wait wait wait... Hold on... One thousand years. How do you expect us to believe that bullshit." Said thunder getting somewhat angry at him. " I haven't even existed for a thousand years, and if you really are crimson then you would know that you left yesterday... Not one thousand years ago."

" perhaps I should explain." He said. " it's been just a day or less for you guys... But it's been a thousand years for me... That explains why I'm so different now. I traveled to a dimension outside of time... there i learned and trained for a thousand years... and, well... it paid off... but there are some downsides to it."

"like... like what?" asked thunder.

"first of all i remember you two... but not you're names... uh, wait. i think yours is... thunder... thunder something i think."

"thunder rush..." he said.

"yeah... that's it." i said. "and... well i'm drawing a total blank on you." he said pointing to nightflame.

"thanks..." he replied in a sarcastic tone.

"i know about my life before this, i know all the faces of every one of my friends... but i only know two other names other than you two." he said pointing to me and thunder rush. "Rainbow dash... and... uh... c-celestia, that's it. princess celestia."

"so you've completely forgotten us." i said in a sullen voice.

"not at all twilight..." he said sparking me up. "i remember the day we first met in the forest. all the others, but i can't remember their names. i remember all the magical tests you would perform on me... like the time you fused a suit to my skin... i still have all the good memories in me." he said.

"crimson... it is you." i said once more being filled with incredible hope.

"i remember going on fun adventures with you thunder. the mermaids lake, and that cave. i also remember the crystal palace in the sea of sand with that evil elf." said crimson lifting thunders spirits too. "and i remember you too... though not you're name. i remember when i chased you all over that one town. then you got hit in the leg by a knife and tried to fly away, when you got tired you whited out and fell on another familiar pony... she was rather shy."

"my god... it is you crimson." said thunder smiling. nightflame was smiling too. i rushed over quickly and grabbed hold of crimson. just as i grew close to him all of his heavy armor and light seemed to vanish and he was just a normal pony again, but still giant. i barely got my head up to his chest. i hugged him tight and i felt tears rolling down my cheek. he held me back and thunder and nightflame walked over and joined us.

"i've missed you all these thousand years..." said crimson.

"but... why didn't you tell us what you were...?" i asked looking up to him. his smile faded and he let out a deep sigh and smirked at me quickly.

"i should have told you... but i was afraid." he said. "afraid that you wouldn't be able to handle it, that something bad would happen... i've been suffering for as long as i can remember now that i look back. i've held so much from you, so many secrets... i still have a few secrets kept away, but i did it so that nopony would be hurt... i'm sorry, i should have told everypony earlier." he said.

"i forgive you crimson." i said hugging him again. he sat down on the ground so i could get closer to him. we held our hug for a moment, all of us. but after a little bit thunder and nightflame pulled away smiling and so did i. crimson looked down at us with a smile and stood back up. he looked at us but then grew a bit curious. he looked past us and behind him like he was searching for something. "is... is something wrong?" i asked becoming confused.

"i know my memory is bad right now..." he said. "but i'm certain that we had supplies... like a cart or something."

"yeah about that..." said nightflame.

"i didn't blow them up did i?" said crimson with a curious but worried face.

"no no... we uh... lost everything back in the opening of the ridge. sharp spikes kept flying up from the ground and they got the cart and all our supplies... the only thing we have now is you're bag..." said thunder rush.

"here crimson... this is yours, you should have it back." said nightflame walking over with the bow in his hooves. crimson looked at it strangely and grabbed it. he spun it around looking at it with a curious face, but then he smiled.

"oh, i remember this thing now..." he said. "if i'm correct then..." he pushed a small sapphire at the bottom of the bow and it glowed and straightened out into a large staff. "hah... that did it..." he changed it into a sword next and then back into a bow. he held it back out towards nightflame. "here keep it." he said nightflame looked at crimson suspiciously then grabbed the bow. "i don't need it, plus it seemed to commune to you're magical signal... you take it, you need it more."

"do you... uh, want you bags back?" i asked bringing my hoof over to undo the straps of the bag. i was about to loosen them until he smiled and shook his head. i stopped and looked at him.

"i don't have a need for worldly possessions anymore..." he said. "that bag is probably full of memories and interesting things."

"yeah... we know." thunder added.

"keep them... i don't need them anymore, they can remind you of me if i ever leave again." he said. i smiled and he stood back up from his sitting position. "so... if i remember correctly we're supposed to be rescuing my wife, aren't we." he said walking forward a little with his long white mane and tail hanging raggedly from his body. he walked past us and thunder rush seemed set on some other detail.

"wait..." he said catching everyponies attention, even crimsons. crimson turned around and looked at thunder.

"what?" he asked.

"if you're an all powerful god now, can't you just teleport us to our destination?" he asked raising a good point.

"ah yes... i was wondering when this would come up." he said. "technically i can... but i can't. the place we are looking for is a transdimensional portal... it has no magical signal and is impossible to locate. i also cannot teleport us to the general location of it because energy it gives off distorts time and space within its general region, so it would just reflect my teleportation spell and we would end up in some other new place."

"but, can you teleport us to the dock or bay where we are supposed to take the boat to stallasia?" i asked.

"yes..." he said. we all smiled. "but i won't..." we all lost our smiles. he started walking now and we had little choice but to follow him. we walked out of the cavern and walked onto a large dirt road cutting through an evergreen forest. it was warmer, we were leaving the cold mountain region and heading towards oasis.

"so why can't you teleport us to the dock?" asked thunder.

"because... i want to see oasis." he said. what kind of reasoning was that. i'm sure me must be very smart now, probably knows more than me at this point, which honestly, bothers me a little... but i just don't get his reasoning. "it's very lovely during the winter..." he said. "at night the forest lights up like day and the leaves of the trees glow and fall to the ground like snow... its a really beautiful place." he said. he flapped his wings a bit to stretch them out and stuck one wing out and started preening it. he bit and fixed his feathers with his teeth.

"so... who cares..." said nightflame. "i'm sorry for being rude, but we can go there any other winter... and you're immortal so you've got forever to see that winter there.

"true... but that's not really why." he said. "there are a few things i want to take care of, plus if we rush this then we won't be able to help along the way." he said.

"what do you mean... help along the way?" i asked.

"well if we just teleport all the way there and skip over everything, what does that really accomplish?" he asked smiling as we kept pushing through the forest trail to oasis. it would probably take us some time to get there.

"well first of all we would rescue you're wife..." said thunder.

"yes... and?" asked crimson.

"well... uh... that's it." he said rather certain in his answer.

"exactly... that's it." he said.

"huh?" moaned nightflame.

"if we rush there then we save my wife... all good. but if we walk there and visit all the places then get to help anypony there as well. so in the end we didn't just save my wife, but also have saved countless other lives or nations... like we just did." he said. i... that, makes sense. "if we had just skipped over the sapphire empire then we never would have helped out the king, and everything that happened never would have happened. his kingdom would still be losing the war and he wouldn't have the staff, and also the little fire pony hiding in twilight's mane wouldn't exist, and i wouldn't be what i am now." he said. just then sprite popped out of my mane and looked over to crimson with curiosity and quickly smiled, good to know she recognized him.

"that makes sense..." said nightflame.

"in rushing ahead we miss all the opportunities to help out others, and without our help they could be ruined. such as the sapphire empire again, if i hadn't helped then they could have been taken over and ruined, but now they have the war on their side... just because we decided to walk there." he said. "the same can be said for oasis and any other place we venture to... see what i mean?" he asked looking back smiling.

"i... yeah. i do." i said.

"me too... but what about rainbow dash?" asked thunder.

"trust me... she isn't going to be hurt." he said. " if shal-grahkan wanted to kill her he would have done it in front of me. no... he needs her alive, as bait... i can sense her... she's still alive." he said.

"how do you know?" asked nightflame.

"during my thousand years of training mirella the god of light showed me a vision of his lair... a twisted world full of chaos and evil.. nothing but pain and suffering. rainbow dash was left untouched by it all... trapped in a bubble of frozen time... to her, not even a day has passed her by." said crimson looking up the the sky in remembrance. " he's afraid that if he kills her i would have no reason to venture onward and face him... that's why he needs her to be alive."

"are you certain?" i asked. he stopped for a second and so did we. he looked up to the sky which was now turning a beautiful shade of orange and bright red. it was getting close to night and it would be dark soon.

"i'm very certain twilight sparkle." he said. he looked back down and started walking again. the air was filled with tension as an awkward silence passed over us. then, out of nowhere crimson spoke up again. "it's getting late..." he said. "we should stop here and set up some kind of camp."

"but we lost our supplies..." said nightflame. "how are we sup-" he was cut off when crimson raised his hooves and smashed them on the ground. in the forest next to us walls of stone and earth rose up from the ground and forced the tree's away. they shot up all around and collided with each other. once they stopped he had made a sort of open hut with a roof and wall in the back. he used more magic to levitate one of the fallen tree's and use blades of light to chop it into a few logs. he levitated the logs over into the middle of the stone tent and with a flash there was a spark and the logs burst into bright and beautiful flames. "or... or you could do that." nightflame muttered changing his sentence.

"there... this should work well." said crimson. "it is supposed to rain tonight anyway... so this will serve just fine. i looked over to the stone tent and we all walked in. it was somehow very cozy. the fire was unlike regular or magical fire... it seemed pure. it didn't give off any smoke or even burn the logs. it didn't die down or perk up... it remained constant and burning. i looked over to crimson who sat on the outside of the tent close to the fire. he smiled at us then he became a bit curious again. once more he looked around like he was searching for something.

"is there something wrong?" asked thunder.

"yeah... i remember a wolf... with wings, shouldn't he be with you guys?" asked crimson.

"you mean shadow tail?" i asked even though the answer was obvious since we only know of one winged wolf.

"yeah..." said crimson. "where is he?"

"we don't know..." i said. "he just kind of left when nopony was looking, we thought he would be out looking for you." crimson closed his eyes and stuck his head up into the air gently. he looked calm. soon a light came from the from of his chest. it was a small cross symbol on his chest it glowed fain white. soon a wave of light moved down crimson from head to hoof and the different parts of his symbols lit up like a wave of light. once on was gone another one appeared and over and over again. it was after the fourth one that he stopped glowing all together. he opened his eyes and smiled.

"he's coming..." he said. "give him a day or two, he's on his way."

"did... did you just call him?" asked thunder.

"no... but i found him. i managed to track is magical aura, he's in the woods now far away... but he knows we are here and he's coming this way."

"magical aura... i didn't know wolves had a magical aura." said nightflame.

"everything has a magical aura... some aren't as powerful or large as others, but everything has one. all ponies no matter the race, animals big and small, even the plants. everything from the tallest tree to the smallest blade of grass... all of it has an aura... and i can find that aura." he said. this was honestly something new for him... he really has changed.

"can you do anything else with that aura?... can you drain it? or... or add to it?" i asked getting rather excited on this new subject. i think it would be a neat trick and i'm always eager to learn more about magic.

"somepony's aura can be drained and added to." he said. "but a ponies magical aura cannot be drained past what it is supposed to be." he said, i was confused so i expressed that confusion with an expression, hoping he would elaborate. "if you add to a ponies magical aura then you can only drain that magical aura... since it isn't truly part of them. if a ponies aura has not been added to then you cannot take away from it... a ponies original aura is part of their soul. that's why i can grow in power from absorbing the souls of ponies."

" that's pretty amazing." i said smiling. "so what is the aura of a pony?" i asked becoming interested in the subject now. thunder and nightflame listened too, but i don't think they were as interested as i was.

"well a ponies aura is their identity... all magic comes from the soul, and that's what the aura is... a ponies magical ability. an aura works a lot like muscle, you can train and strengthen it and it will grow and become more powerful, which is what unicorns do when they practice and study magic. this doesn't classify as adding to the aura. if a pony strengthens their aura then it becomes bigger and stronger."

"like actual muscle becomes larger and more dense." added nightflame.

"yes... and the more powerful a being is the easier it is for me to pick up on their identity and aura. normal ponies and animals can do this as well. have you guys ever felt a strange presence before... near anything magical or powerful?" he asked. "i hate to use myself as an example but... when i well up my energy can you feel it?"

"well... yes sort of." i said. it was true, crimson always had this feeling lingering about him. it was a comforting feeling.

"yeah, i've noticed it a few times too." said thunder.

"this happens when that ponies, or things, aura connects with yours, you get a sense for it. and a ponies aura reflects their actions and personality. somepony who is kind and loving will have a very welcoming and peaceful aura... but somepony who is wicked and cruel will have a dark aura, an aura that will cause you to feel cold and afraid. this applies to ponies who don't have large aura's either. when to ponies in love grow close to each other they might feel safe in each others hooves or could grow a connection to each other."

"i... that's amazing." i said. "that just... i mean... it makes so much sense... is that also why magic has a glow to it, and each pony has different colors of magic?" i asked. "is that glow our aura?"

"yes... it is." said crimson smiling. " a ponies aura becomes visible when casting magic because they are concentrating it into a physical form. when you levitate something, or somepony for a better example, they grow aware of you, because you're stretching out you're aura and surrounding a pony with it." he said.

"alright... i think i get the gist of it now." i said.

"you've learned a lot." said thunder.

"i've learned more than a lot... i've learned almost everything that is true and revealed." he said... revealed.

"what do you mean by revealed?" asked nightflame.

"basically everything there is to know that isn't confined by secrets." said crimson. "if there was a lost civilization buried under us right now and only one other pony knew it then i wouldn't know. i only know current information and everything there is to know at this moment." said crimson. "i don't know what happened in the past other than what history tells us... and i cannot know into the future."

"alright..." said thunder. "that makes sense i guess. i was about to speak when there was a bright flash and then a loud crack... it was lightning. i hadn't noticed, but the sky is almost black now and cloudy as it is probably very late now. and suddenly a small drop of water fell down from the sky and landed right on crimsons head. he looked up the the sky and smiled.

"ah... right on time." he said as suddenly the rain seemed to pick up in an instant and now it was absolutely pouring out. the ground was already getting soaked, but not the ground in the tent. there was a perfect line between wet and dry at the edge of our tent. crimson must be using a spell to keep the water from spreading any further and soaking the ground inside the tent.

"crimson... come in here, get out of the rain." i said moving over and making some room so that crimson could crawl in and maybe fit in here somewhere, he was huge after all.

"no thanks..." he said.

"wait... no thanks?" i questioned.

"yeah... no thanks." he said.

"crimson, it's pouring out." yelled thunder. it was turning into a real storm now and the winds were blowing and the rain was falling heavily, he had to shout to get his words out. another flash ran across the sky and crimson waited for the boom of the lightning before talking again. when it came he smiled and opened his mouth.

"i know that..." he said smiling. the rain was now blowing into his back and towards us... but it never entered our stone tent. like the water the wind just blew back off of some kind of barrier in the tent and the rain that should have blown in just moved to the side and hit the ground. the wind didn't even touch or blow on the fire inside the tent which still burned intensely. the outside must be bitter, cold, and miserable... this was one hell of a storm, but inside the tent it was warm, dry and peaceful. this one stone tent seemed to remain completely indifferent from the entire storm.

"crimson you aren't going to just sit out there are you?" i asked.

"yes, actually... i am." he said still smiling, how could he be smiling. the water didn't seem to bother him at all. i reached my hoof out and placed it into the open world. the air was freezing cold, the winds were harsh, and the rain was falling so fast that it was stinging me. i quickly pulled my hoof back in. there was another flash and a boom and in the flash, the crimson in front of us changed... he... he looked like himself again. his smile grew even bigger and his coat turned back into a pure white and his mane turned a velvet black with blue stripes. not his very original colors, but he looked like this for a while, so it was a familiar look. me, thunder and nightflame where all taken back by this, but we got used to it. "here... this is a more familiar form... but not my true look." he said... he was still several feet tall.

" so you're going to stay out there all night?" i asked.

"i think so... yes." he said pondering for a second then going right back to a smile.

"why?" asked nightflame.

"it's calming... helps me think." he said. this... this is calming... this helps him think? "i don't need to sleep, and i'm perfectly in tune with all the elements... this can't hurt me... it only makes me aware of the elements... helps me to meditate on them." he said. "i think that's what i'll do tonight... meditate."

"you're not going to sleep?" asked thunder.

"i haven't slept in one thousand years... i haven't eaten, drank, slept, or took a break in a thousand years... no, i'm not going to sleep... i don't need it." he said. "but you three need to sleep... so go ahead... i'll stay right here and watch over the road." i wanted to protest that he should come in and get some rest, but he turned around and sat up straight looking over the road. i looked at thunder rush and nightflame but they just shrugged at me. i guess he is right, we do need sleep... but i'm still worried about him. me and the others took spots on the soft dry grass and laid down. i was exhausted from today and i found no trouble in falling asleep.

i laid my head down with my back turned to the fire and crimson so the light wouldn't keep me up. after a few minutes the noise of the storm outside had slowly began to fade as i faded off into my own world of dreams. it wasn't long until i was out cold. i can't remember what i was dreaming about, i never really do remember any of my dreams except for a select few that i usually only remember distinct details about. i ,however, suddenly found myself wide awake. i was just enjoying my dream but i've already forgotten everything about it. i looked around still confused but when i realized i was awake everything seemed to make sense now.

the only noise i could hear was the crackling of the fire behind me and i felt its warmth too. i could feel the grass tickling my side and my fur. the storm outside wasn't making any sound now. the thunder and lightning had passed over and the sound of rain pounding on the ground and the wind whistling past the trees was no more. i slowly raised my head and sat up. i turned over to see crimson sitting there outside the tent. the sky outside was somewhat clearer now and faintly brighter. it must be close to sunrise now. i just sat there and stared at crimson who was still facing away from the tent and had not moved a muscle since.

he fur and mane were soaking wet and still dripping with water. the ground was soaked and patted down by rain. the path was muddy and glistening with water, it was also covered in varying puddles. crimson had beads of water still dripping down him and his fur was all matted down from the rain. his tail laid on the ground as a moist clump of black and blue hair and his mane stuck to the shape of his head. his ears were perked up at his side. his left ear twitched slightly and his head darted to the left. for a second i though he was going to snap his head back and look at me, but it stopped just short, he was looking at something else. just then something rustled in the bushes across the road and soon hopped out.

it was a rabbit. the rabbit was all wet from the rain and was just hopping around. crimson kept his eyes on it as it hopped over across the muddy road getting its undersides all dirty. it hopped over and stopped in front of crimson. he towered over the rabbit like a monster... but somehow the rabbit approached him and looked up to see his face. crimson looked down and they just looked at each other for a while. soon the rabbit took off to the right and crimson kept his gaze on it as the rabbit moved past my field of view since the tent walls where now blocking my sight. after a second or two he slowly brought his head back forward and sat there. the sky began to grow lighter now and had a slightly grey-ish blue hue. crimson looked up to the sky for a few seconds then looked forward again.

"good morning twilight..." he said. i almost yelled out in surprise right then and there. i did gaps a little at the shock and embarrassment of him knowing i was awake and watching him. i was also a bit taken by the fact that not once did i make a sound or did he ever see me. even now he wasn't looking at me. i did settle down again and regained composure. i guess i shouldn't be so surprised considering. "did you have a good night?" he asked in a friendly yet strangely distant voice. he seemed distracted by something, not just because he wasn't looking at me but because of his tone of voice... it was off.

"uhm... yes... i did, thank you." i replied. " but... how did you-" i said.

" i could hear you're breathing pattern change and the grass shifting under you." he said answering my question. that's a bit scary. "give thunder and the other one a few more minutes... they'll be up soon." he said. 'the other one'?... does he mean nightflame. i guess we never really did remind him of nighflames name

" did... Did you sit there in the rain all night?" I asked looking at him, he still kept his gaze set forward.

" yes... I told you I would." Said crimson.

" your fur and mane are all wet and muddy..." I said. " don't you think you should dry off."

" no, I'll be fine." He said

" well uh..." I stammered. " you still had some food and water in your bags... Would you like some?" I asked.

" no thank you. " he said. " I don't need to eat or drink to survive any longer."

" what... Next you'll tell me you don't need to breathe either."

" I don't..." He said. " but I do anyway, I've been breathing for so long I find it hard to subconsciously stop... So I just inhale and exhale anyway... But trust me when I tell you that I can hold my breath for a long time."

" great... Well... Uh, I give up." I said not thinking of anything else. No matter what I said he seemed to keep distancing himself from me. I'm overjoyed he's back, but scared of how much he has changed overnight. He said he had been gone for one thousand years... I find that hard to believe... I really do, I know there's something he isn't telling us, but I can't figure it out, and I don't want to ask him just yet. We sat there in silence and he continued to look off away from us, but the silence was broken when two soft moans broke through the air, short after one slightly softer and quieter moan traveled through the air.

It was thunder rush and Nightflame waking up from their sleep. The softer moan was sprite who had been sleeping inside of crimsons fire. I never saw her jump in it, but she is a fire pony... So it makes sense. Thunder let out a sharp yawn and stretched out along with Nightflame. Sprite did a cute little stretch too and flapped her wings as she took up into the air. She flew up and flew over to me and landed on my snout. She smiled and hugged my snout making me smile.

" heeheehee... Good morning sprite." I said giggling.

" uhhh... Wha-... Urgh, good morning twilight." Said thunder.

" morning."

" ugh... Morning twilight."

" morning." I replied again.

" good morning all..." Said crimson catching everyponies attention.

" oh, uh... Good morning crimson." Said thunder rush. " did you-

" stay out here all night." He said cutting him off and jumping to the question. " twilight..." Crimson said looking over slightly to my direction expecting me to answer the question for him.

" yes... He did." I replied answering the question for crimson.

" oh uh... Okay then." Said thunder. " do... Uh, do you-"

" I don't want anything to eat... I'm fine." Crimson said cutting him off again and jumping to the question. " you four three eat up, I'm going to go for a short walk... i'll be back in a few minutes." he said.

"wait... where are you going?" i asked in curiosity.

"nowhere special..." he said walking off into the thick forest and soon fading with the dark forest. i let out a deep sigh and stood up. thunder and nightflame did the same and we started to pack up our stuff.

"so where do you think crimson is really going?" asked thunder.

"i'm sure he isn't going into the forest to clear his head." replied nightflame.

"i don't think i like the way he's changed." i said. "he feels like a completely different pony now... he's not himself."

"i know, it doesn't feel like its really him." added nightflame. "i don't like the new him very much either..."

"it doesn't matter..." said thunder rush with his back turned and standing on the road. he looked back at us with a sullen face. we were both taken back by his comment. "theres nothing we can do about it now... and he's still our friend. so lets stop arguing about it and get moving."

"but... he isn't back from his walk yet." i said.

"he's a freaking god... he'll find us..." said thunder. "now lets go."

" alright... I guess you're right, lets go." I said walking out of the tent along with Nightflame. We started making our way down the path and followed thunder. I looked around at the forest and it was becoming much nicer now. The evergreen trees started thinning out and regular forest trees started taking their places. The air was much warmer and the mountains behind us were ever slowly disappearing behind us. The ground was wet and muddy still from the rain last night and the forest glittered with the sparkling drops of fresh rainwater stuck to the trees and grass.

I kept eyeing around the forest for maybe some hint that crimson would walk out and join us again but now that the sun was higher in the sky and everything was brighter I could see deeper into the forest, but I couldn't find crimson. I'm not sure what has changed about him... But I know that he has certainly changed... And I don't like it. I liked it better when he was regular old crimson, not this all powerful know-it-all god. How he manages to do the things he does is beyond me. I let out a deep sigh and soon that sigh was accompanied by the rustling of bushes and the cracking of sticks on the ground. We all heard it and looked over to the source of the sound.

To our surprise it was crimson walking out from the bushes still soaking wet and smiling... But he was different. He was shorter now, not as huge as he was before. His coat was white and his hair was black. He had a smile on his face and he wasn't glowing now. He was... Normal now. Like the rest of us. His presence had changed too, he felt like the old crimson. I almost felt like crying but I kept it inside. He walked out of the bushes and smiled at us like he was just meeting us for the first time. I smiled too and so did thunder and Nightflame. I could tell they knew he had changed now. He didn't seem like he was so different now, he felt like one of us.

" hey guys." He said smiling. He was using a normal tone of voice and it sounded friendly and assuring, like it always used to sound.

" hey crimson." I said. " you're back from your walk... But... You uh, changed a bit." I said pointing out that he is different now. I couldn't help but wonder, I am curious as to why he did change.

" oh yeah..." He said. " well I knew that you guys didn't like the new me... So I went back to the old me."

" you... Uh you can do that?" Stuttered Nightflame.

" well it's complicated. I was always the old me... It's just that the knowledge and power gets to my head and I can't help it. I've repressed it though." He said.

" re-repressed it?" Stammered thunder rush as well.

" yeah... That doesn't mean all of it is gone... Just... Not at the surface yet. In a moment of trouble or sudden danger then It probably will boil back up and I'll... You know, turn into a god again... But I can just come back to this form."

" you make it seem like its no big deal." I said as he joined the group and we started walking.

" it's not really... But I know that you guys don't really like the new me... I don't like the new me either." He said.

" and how do you know that we don't like the new you?" I asked in a friendly tone as we kept walking down the muddy road.

" because you said so." He said glaring at me as a little smirk spread across his face.

" you heard me." I said with the same expression.

" I can hear for miles... See for miles, and smell the faintest scent with great accuracy. My heightened senses can't be repressed... But that's not really a bad thing. I've always had good senses." He said.

" well it's good to finally have you back crimson... The real you." I said.

" yeah, welcome back buddy." Said thunder.

" good to see ya again." Said Nightflame.

" thank you twilight, thunder rush... And... Uhh." He said pausing at nightflames name. " uhh... What's your face." He said. I giggled a bit and rolled my eyes while nigntflame did the same.

" c'mon... Still?" He said.

" sorry." Said crimson. " still working on patching up my fragmented memory... I think your name... Uhh... It has something to do with fire I think."

" well... Yeah, that's one step closer." Said Nightflame.

" begins with an 'N'..." I said giving crimson a hint.

" hey no hints." Said thunder smiling.

" starts with an 'N' huh... Hmm..." Murmured crimson as he was soon deep in thought. " is it... Nightfire?" He asked.

" ooh, so close... Try again." Said Nightflame.

" uhh... AHH." Said crimson lighting up, figuratively. " it's Nightflame, your name is Nightflame."

" we have a winner." Said Derek smiling. I started laying and Nightflame smiled.

" yes... My name is Nightflame." He said. " nice to meet you."

" hahaha." Laughed crimson. His laugh seemed to warm me up inside and I kept laughing too. His laugh was hearty and strong, unlike before. Before his laughter was always a bit sarcastic but heartfelt... This time it's strong and hearty. I can still feel a bit of change on him... But I like this change however. " nice to meet you too Nightflame... Now, I don't know about you guys...cut I'm starving." He said.

" what happened to not having to eat." I said glaring at him with a smirk.

" I don't... But that doesn't mean I don't want to eat... Or that I'm not hungry."

" alright... I guess we should eat..." I said. I opened crimsons bags and looked inside for food. I found some food...cut there were only three sandwiches left in there. " uhh..." I stammered feeling bad.

" what is it twilight?" Asked thunder rush. " don't tell me we ran out of food." He said seeming distressed.

" well, no... Not yet. But this is going to be our last meal." I said.

" crap." Said Nightflame.

" there's only three sandwiches in here." I said.

" perfect... Enough for each of you." Said crimson.

" but... You have to eat something too, your stomach is the one that's growling." I said.

" I'll be fine." He argued but I wasn't going to stand for it. He needs to eat something too.

" but... You-" is all I said before he cut me off by placing his hoof on my snout and silencing me.

" twilight... I haven't eaten, drank, slept, or used a bathroom in one thousand years... And I'm fine. I can hold out a while longer until we get to oasis tomorrow."

" you haven't... Haven't gone to the bathroom, in one thousand years," said thunder looking back with a stupefied look on his face.

" I haven't eaten in years... There's no waste to produce. Plus my blood is absolutely pure and void of by products. There's nothing to filter out... So I'm pretty much set." He said.

" well... You should still eat something." I said.

" twilight, you've lost five pounds ever since we started this journey..." He said. " you don't seem like one of those mares who's into starving themselves into losing weight, you need to eat more." He said... How... How does he know if I lost five pounds, I don't even know that. But he is right, partially. I haven't eaten much on this journey. I don't normally eat much food anyway, but I've never lost weight from it or gone hungry.

" alright... I'll eat." I said giving up.

" here I'll take the daffodil sandwich." Said thunder. He grabbed that one and we each took our own sandwich. We ate as we walked and I tore off some bread and a few of the daisies and leaves in my sandwich to give to sprite whose stomach was growling too. She flew over from the tip of my ear and grabbed the sandwich. She ate it happily and when she was done just flew around us glowing. She glowed beautifully in the shady forest. The large trees covered the opening above us and blocked out most of the light, but it was still easy enough to see the sky.

We continued walking down the path and I had just finished my food. I passed out water to everypony. Crimson said he didn't want any, but seeing as there was more than enough to go around I forced him to drink some water. He gave in and took it. He pretty much downed the whole thing of water and freaked out about it being so refreshing and 'the most refreshing thing I've experienced in one thousand years' he said. He smiled and I just laughed and rolled my eyes. We continued to walk as sprite buzzed around us railing a line of light as she flew. And as we started to walk I noticed that the trees in the forest became more exotic as we went on.

" oh gosh..." I said noticing a huge bright flower prodding out from the ground. It was bright orange and red. The petals intertwined and looked like a blur of fiery colors. There were purple stem like stored poking out of it with yellow tips that held the pollen of the flower. Crimson looked over to my exclamation and when he followed my eyes to the flower he smiled. He stopped just as I had and started walking over to me. " this flower is beautiful." I said, I'm not entirely sure why but I was just so taken away by this flower. Something about it just seemed so...so... Perfect.

" ah... I was wondering how you would react if you saw one of these." Said crimson walking over.

" what... What is it?" I asked. Thunder and Nightflame stopped too to watch.

" if you like it so much just pick it and take it with you." Thunder said walking over to the flower.

" stop..." Said crimson causing thunder to stop abruptly and look at crimson curiously as he backed away. " this is an ember daisy." He said. " it's a very rare and magic imbued flower... It's also very dangerous."

" dangerous... How?" Asked Nightflame.

" there's a certain way to harvest the flower... If you just pluck it from the ground then it busts and suddenly the whole forest is up in flames." He said. " here let me." Said crimson. He walked over and stood by the flower. He used some kind of magic to dig the ground out along the flower. And the flower gently began to rise. At the bottom of the stem was a clump of dirt and roots. " you have to slowly trim off the bulb starting with the roots." He said.

" why?" Asked thunder.

" the way it works is that when the stem is detached from the bulb of the flower the roots pull in all surrounding energy from the ear which is what causes the fiery explosion." Said crimson as he slowly started to scratch the dirt away from the roots. Then he started to twist the roots off the bulb. " so with no roots then the bulb can't pull in matter... Then it's safe to detach."

" alright... I guess." Said thunder. Crimson picked away all the roots and cleaned the bulb off. The flower looked like it was dead now. Instead of beautiful red and orange fiery petals they were dull black and blue now, like a dead fire. It was sort of disappointing but crimson didn't seem taken away. " I think you killed it." Said thunder.

" you know these flowers go by a certain nickname around most parts." He said.

" what's that?" I asked. Crimson walked over and held the flower up to me with the bulb still in it.

" you pick it... It's the most magical part." He said. I smiled.

" alright... But you never told us the nickname." I said grabbing the base of the stem which was now a dark and dying blue. I plucked the flower and the bulb was torn from the flower stem.

" it's called a Phoenix rose." He said. And just like magic the flower burst in a torrent of flames. I was scared that maybe it didn't get picked right and that it was going to kill us all... Bt it didn't. I looked at the flower... And it was on fire. The petals were there and they seemed to be part of the fire. In the middle a bright blue and purple flame flared and it let off sparks, Sort of like glittering trails of magical fire that whirled around us. It was beautiful... I couldn't even believe my eyes.

" oh my gosh... It's beautiful." I said.

" the flower when harvested correctly, will never die or whither. Once at the end of every month it will wilt and turn black for one day... Then the next day, at the exact time the sun rises it burst back to life and burns furiously for the whole day... The fire is magic and doesn't hurt... You can touch it." He said. Curious I brought my hoof over the flower and the little fires danced and licked my hoof, but didn't burn.

" that's awesome..." Said Nightflame.

" here..." Said crimson using his magic to levitate the flower out of my hoof. He lifted it up and tucked it behind my ear and it stayed there burning intently but not setting me on fire. " it has magical enhancing abilities... It's one of few and very rare natural, magical enhancements... It also channels fire type magic, better than that staff you had... Plus it makes you look beautiful." He said staring into my eyes. I looked back taken away from the moment until thunder broke the moment.

" AHEM" he said clearing his throat. " very touching... Now c'mon, we'll never make it to oasis at this rate. Crimson got distracted again and looked back to the path.

" oh yes... C'mon lets go. I can explain more as we walk." He said. He turned sprung and we started walking. Sprite seemed very taken by the flower burning and resting on my ear now and flew over and looked at the flower. She sat down on my ear next to the flower and seemed to enjoy its company, I guess that still makes sense.

" so how rare exactly is that flower?" Asked thunder.

" they only grow in certain areas once every hundred or so years on the hottest day of the longest summer." He said. That seemed very... Complicated. " if left undisturbed then they only live for an approximate three days before whit herring and dying... But when harvested they live forever." He said.

" thank you again crimson... This is a very kind gift from you." I said sincerely.

" your welcome... Took me awhile to hunt that thing down." He said.

" wait... What." Said thunder.

" it took YOU awhile to hunt this down?" I said confused. " did... Did you put this flower there?" I asked.

" well yes..." He said. " that's why I didn't get any sleep last night. I was up all night keeping a shield around that flower so the rain couldn't get to it... Unlike most flowers, this one withers when it is watered... I knew it was around and I kept a shield on it. So that the next day I could go out find it and place it near the road just so you could find it..." He said.

" that's... That's very kind of you crimson... Thank you." I said rushing over and giving him a hug. He smiled and we walked onward.

" so where did you find that?" Asked thunder.

" well it wasn't close by... I did actually have to teleport to it while I was gone." Said crimson. " it was glowing on some obsidian surrounded by a lake of lava all the way at the burning scar."

" the burning scar?" Asked Nightflame.

" here... Look at this." Siam crimson. His eyes glowed faintly and a line of solid light appeared in front of him. It soon rolled out and topped glowing to reveal a map. He held it up for all of us to see and we walked. " right here...nth is black line is the burning scar and were right here." He said. The burning scar seemed close but not close enough to walk to in the time he was gone. It was a black scar riding across the green forest just outside of oasis.

" why is that there?" I asked.

" well see how it connects to this mountain here." He said pointing to a large mountain further down on the mountain range that we had just crossed through.

" yeah..." Said thunder.

" thats an active volcano." He said. " it erupts once at least every month and its the reason for this... It started a great forest fire in its first eruption. Most of the lava empties out into these two opening here and cools instantly when it hits the shorelines." He said pointing to two paths leading to the ocean. " the rest goes down the scar... It doesn't make it far before it cools and there's no threat of there being another forest fire... Something that oasis is very happy about."

" huh... I guess you learn something new every day." Said Nightflame.

" well it was very kind of you to get this flower for me... Thank you again crimson." I said hugging him one last time as we kept going down the muddy road through the forest.

" I find it hard to believe that it was raining there though." Said thunder. Crimson put his map down and it burst into a cloud of light and vanished.

" well it was once part of the forest... Plus that was a large storm." He argued. " and even then the lava cooling so often in the oceans creates a lot of steam which makes rain clouds a very common occurrence in that area. They have episodes of scalding rain which is what it sounds like... Scalding rain. Since the steam rises and accumulates so quickly it doesn't have time to cool and it falls to the ground as almost boiling water."

" glad we don't have that in Equestria." Said thunder.

" just be glad you don't have most of this crazy stuff in Equestria." I said. We laughed a bit and kept walking. I kept a wide smile on my face as we kept walking and so did crimson. We continued down the muddy path which had started to dry as we kept going. The sun was right above our heads and it must be about noon.

" so when did you say we are going to get to oasis?" Asked thunder.

" well, if we keep walking we can get there by tomorrow." Said crimson. " but if we fly we can make it there in a few hours."

" but didn't you say shadow tail was going to find us in a few days yesterday?" Asked Nightflame.

" yeah... He is." Said crimson. " but he's going to find us no matter where we are, he's been tracking my scent, I can tell... Plus he has wings too, he can get to any place we can."

" oh yeah I forgot about that." Said Nightflame. " but wait... How can we fly when twilight and thunder don't have wings.

" simple..." Said thunder. " you can carry me and crimson can carry twilight."

" haha... Very funny." Said Nightflame.

" actually... That's exactly what I was going to suggest." Said crimson. " you can easily carry thunder, he can just ride on your back, and I can carry twilight... We'll be there before the day ends so maybe we can find an inn to stay at... And maybe something more to eat."

"it makes sense..." i said looking over to nightflame.

"yeah but... i... ugh... fine." he said reluctantly. he bent down to let thunder on his back. thunder walked over climbed on and nightflame stretched out his wings. "no funny business back there." said nightflame as thunder smiled and chuckled to himself. "remember i'm the one who can fly, not u... so if you don't want to fall to you're death then don't go fucking around back there."

"alright twilight." said crimson interrupting my laughter at nightflame and thunder. "climb on."

"alright..." i said walking over to crimson who was bent down low so i could climb on. i smiled and walked over and i clumsily climbed onto crimsons back and held on tight as his large white wings flashed out from both sides.

"is everypony ready?" he asked

"ready..." said nightflame.

"yep." said thunder.

"lets get going." i said in reply to the others.

"great... just follow me nightflame and we'll be there in a few hours." said crimson. "lets go." and with that he flexed his large muscular wings and we both shot straight up into the air. the force pushed me up against his back as we took high up into the sky. nightflame was under us and as we reached the layer above the forest we started to move forward. off in the distance i could faintly make out a large green stretch of land. it seemed to raise up higher than the trees we were above right now. crimson flapped his large wings and we started to move faster and faster as we pressed forward.

the feeling of flying was amazing. being a unicorn and not a pegasus, this felt great. it was a whole new experience. i've flown before on a chariot or a pirate ship that one time, which i won't speak of. flying like this was much more intense. it felt like i was actually flying and not being supported by a vehicle despite crimson under me holding me up. we launched forward through the sky as crimson was trailing a path of light and sparkling dust. the wind blew furiously against my face and i found it hard to keep my eyes open for long moments at a time. little sprite was holding onto my ear and smiling and the ember daisy didn't seem to fly from between my ear despite the speed we were going at.

we rocketed through the air for at least an hour and the large green veranda that i saw previously was now much larger and wider than it was before. it was like there was larger platform of green on top of the already high up forest canopy. it was still a faint sight but it was slowly becoming more and more distinguishable. i was curious as to what it was. i looked down to ask crimson when i seemed to stop at the look of his face. he was smiling... a very large smile to be exact, but it was more than that. he had fire in his eye, i could see it, not feel it... but see it. the fire glared in his eyes. he blinked and it was gone. it wasn't a normal facial combination. usually when somepony has fire in their eyes they're determined, but when somepony is determined i wouldn't expect them to be smiling like crimson was. with this realization i soon became aware of many other things.

for one... his coat. it wasn't soaking wet anymore. it was warm, dry, and soft. he was giving off some king of great heat from his body. it was warming me up inside and making me want to just fall asleep on his back. i could feel his heartbeat through his back. it was scary. i never thought a ponies heart could beat so strongly. now that i think of it i could feel a pulse coursing through his entire body. it was calming and and the same time threatening. it made him seem like a ticking time bomb of power... which is pretty much what he has become now. i found the will to pull myself away from my strange trance and forgot what i was going to ask him. when i looked up and saw the green veranda again i remembered my question.

"crimson..." i said. he looked up at me smiling waiting for me to answer. "what is that green verge over there?" i asked.

"i was thinking the same thing." said nightflame behind us.

"thats oasis..." said crimson. "how much do you know about the oasis forest?" he asked us all.

"i think the only thing we know is the stuff about it glowing at night... nothing else." said thunder.

"here... i'll tell you all about it." said crimson. "for one, the whole country of oasis is really one large city." he said. "it's broken up into five section, north, south, east, and west. then of course there's the middle which is the main part of the city and the most beautiful. i've only been to the west part. we're going to cut through the south side, then through the center, then leave through the north passage. once there we'll go east to the port and then off to stallasia."

"alright... still doesn't answer what that large green verge is." said nightflame.

"i just told you... that's oasis..." said crimson.

"i know... but what is oasis." said nightflame.

"its a forest... the whole place is a forest with trees taller than the highest point of canterlot palace."

"holy shit." said thunder.

"thats what i said my first time there." said crimson. "it's a beautiful place with wonderful and kind ponies. it's a great place for basking in the night life. the forest glows at night. but in the winter the leaves fall from the trees and glow like snow." we all just looked forward at the green verge which was growing closer and becoming more clearer. i just rested my head on crimson and looked forward to the city. once again i became aware of his warm touch, his soft fur, and the rhythmic beat of his heart. and before i knew it i had slowly drifted off to sleep. i didn't worry about maybe sliding off crimson and falling or if something else happened to harm any of us. i know that crimson will never let anything bad happen to me. i always feel same with him.

so i slowly drifted off into my own world of dreams and started thinking about this whole adventure. also i couldn't help but dream about crimson as well. all my senses had faded and i became unaware of everything. the sharp wind, the moist air outside, and the gentle flapping of crimsons wings. i wasn't sure how long i was out really. all through my dreams the only pony that ever really stuck out was crimson. he was always smiling and laughing. we would walk together, and i dreamt that he had protected me. in my dream i saw scar... he jumped out from nowhere and tried to take me. it was that day when he had foalnapped me and try to take me hostage. but then crimson came out of nowhere glowing brightly in large metal armor and he killed scar. he took his sword and slashed off scars head, despite that evil mask he wore which made him untouchable. then he came over to me and held me i called out his mane and he did mine.

"twilight..." he said grinning with half open eyes. "twilight... twilight... twilight wake up." he said. soon everything i knew was fading away to black and then to white as i opened my eyes from my dream. "hey... c'mon, wake up sleepy head." said crimson, the real crimson. "have a nice nap?" he asked.

"what... uh, yeah." i said still drowsy from my sleep. i noticed we weren't flying anymore, and then i noticed were we were. the site of this new place woke me right up. we were in a tree... but not just a tree... a towering tree house. we were standing on wooden planks fastened to the side of this tree in use of a road. these were everywhere. each tree had them, and they would spiral down to different levels. the trees were hollowed out and had doors put in them, much like my house in ponyville. as far as i could see there were branches, leaves and plants everywhere. i kept looking around and saw thunder and nightflame standing on the wood platform. i figured we must be in oasis. "oh my... how long was i asleep?" i asked wondering if i had missed anything important.

"about two or three hours." said crimson. "we just arrived in oasis."

"you missed it twi..." said thunder. "you should have seen the huge gates this place had, and then crimson told us how the whole south section of the forest is in the tree canopy... this place is freaking awesome."

"welcome to oasis twilight." said crimson helping me off his back. i climbed off and stepped onto the wooden walkway. i was nervous, i thought that it might break under my hooves and i would fall. but i sucked down my nerves and got off crimsons back. i looked at the ground and then back up smiling. then i looked all around. there were large trees everywhere and even higher levels above us. some trees had spiraling paths to switch between levels. some of those paths flattened out as they go up or down and there would be a door there. that must be a house or something.

"wow..." i exclaimed. "this place is beautiful."

"yeah..." replied crimson. "it is isn't it?"

"so now that we're here..." butted in thunder. "... and its almost night... where are we going to stay?" he asked raising a very good question. we made it to oasis now there's only the matter of finding a place to stay.

"well... we could probably find a place." he said. "theres usually a sign hanging up outside of every shop and inn... lets just keep going north until we find one. remember though, in oasis, night isn't a problem."

"alright... i think that's a good idea." i stated in agreement with crimson. "lets get going." i said walking over to crimson. he smiled and pointed us in the right direction. we started following him without question and we looked back and forth between signs hanging up above doors. i made sure to check above and below us just to make sure if there were any inns on the other levels. i couldn't find much. most of the places we passed through were just shops. i managed to tell the signs apart though. a bag is a general store, an anvil with a hammer is a blacksmith, a needle with a thread in a tailor. there were some other ones that were kind of obvious even though those ones were pretty easy. a red plus sign was a clinic or hospital, i saw one that was a stack of books which might be a school or a library. but it was soon starting to get late and the sky and world around us was darkening.

"so didn't you say the forest lights up at night?" asked thunder rush as we walked on. crimson was facing forward still smiling.

"yeah..." he said.

"well it's getting dark and nothings happening." argued thunder. the night was approaching very quickly and it was becoming harder to see by the second. nopony else walking around seemed worried either. they just walked past us on the huge wooden bridges and paths.

"nothing's happening because it's not night yet." said crimson. he looked up to the sky and then turned his head to look at us as he stopped walking. he turned and faced us smiling. it was getting very dark and i was becoming nervous, but his smile seemed to give me some kind of confidence.

"why did we stop?" asked nightflame.

"so we don't accidentally walk off the edge of the paths." said crimson.

"what?" replied thunder. but before he could continue to question crimson the whole world seemed to become shrouded in darkness. there was just the faint light being given off by the flower between my ear and also sprite who was glowing barely in the dark. it wasn't enough to even see an inch in front of my own face. everything seemed to go silent. but then like a miracle there was a small light above us. just one small speck of light... like a star. then another appeared, and one by one more and more stars spread across the sky. then suddenly there was a pulse of light and everything around us seemed to glow violently for a second and settle down. my heart almost stopped from the amazement of it all.

the tree's the leaves, all the other plants and even the wood roads and platforms started to glow brightly and illuminated the whole forest. all of a sudden everything was clearer now. and then those bright stars above us seemed to fall towards us. they soon became clear and i noticed they were leaves. they slowly fluttered down and hit the ground below us and just seemed to vanish as they hit the ground. the forest was glowing an array of wonderful colors. the trees glowed blue along the bark and the leaved glowed green. the plants seemed to glow their own respective colors except for the tree trunks which glowed blue. flowers sprouting up on the trees glowed blue, red, white, yellow, purple... any color you could think of. even the moss and mushrooms on the trees glowed. i looked over to crimson and smiled as he looked up and smiled too. the leaves above fell down like snow. they were green but as they fell they faded to white.

"so... any other questions?" asked crimson.

"oh my god..." said thunder.

"yes..." crimson replied jokingly. i just smiled and rolled my eyes.

"it's absolutely beautiful." i said walking over to crimson. thunder and nightflame stood there staring at the trees with their jaws on the ground. "are you two coming?" i asked snapping them out of their trance.

"what uh yeah... lets go." said thunder rushing over to join me and crimson as we started walking off.

"hey... wait up." said nightflame joining us last. he caught up and we started walking again. crimson kept his eyes forward and looked around for an inn while me, thunder, and nightflame looked all around taking in the sight of the forest.

"Hey look... There's an inn right over there." Said crimson suddenly catching all of our attention. As much as I would love to stay out in the beautiful forest, I was still pretty tired.

" finally." Said thunder. We walked over to the inn... Or what looked like an inn. This building actually wasn't built into a tree. It was just sitting on a huge platform. While that is different its not too different. There are a few houses and buildings around like that. But if you think of it, these trees aren't thick enough to fit an inn inside.

" wait..." I said. " how are we going to pay for an inn... We lost everything in the razor ridge."

" hmm..." Said crimson pondering. " twilight, can you pass me my bags please." He said looking back to me. I didn't know what this would do, but I guess they are his, so I should give them to him.

" uhh... Sure." I said I strapping the saddle bags and passing them over to crimson.

" thank you." He said as he strapped them on and turned around. " alright, lets get going." He said walking forward. Thunder and Nightflame looked at each other with a confused look and I just stared forward blankly. I wanted to say something but I didn't, I figure there must be some reason for his actions...cohere usually is. So I followed him and so did thunder and Nightflame. We walked behind him without question and we all walked into the inn. It was a cozy little inn. There was a staircase going to the rooms, a bar, tables to eat, and a large fire pit in the middle of the inn. There was one pony with a lute and he was playing for everypony in the building.

" hello there... Can I help you?" Asked an old grey stallion form behind the counter. We walked over and crimson smiled as he approached the bar.

" yes, can we get four rooms please?" He asked.

" sorry sir, we only have two rooms left." he said gesturing to the two keys hanging up near some bottles of wine and alcohol.

" that's fine..." said crimson. " we can work with what we've got... plus this is the only inn we've seen so far." he added.

"yes, i can understand what you mean." said the innkeeper. "the southern part of oasis is mainly residential... we don't get much visitors here... there nothing to go to from this point on, just bitter cold and large mountains."

"actually we just came from there." i added, i'm not sure why i said that... but i felt like i needed to say something.

"oh really... you lot must be adventurers... you certainly have the feel about it." said the innkeeper. he looked back at me and then he seemed lost or confused. he was staring at me, not in my eyes but like i had something on my face. it was making me feel uncomfortable so i asked him.

"uhmm... what is it... why are you staring at me?" i asked.

"ohh... oh my apologies ma'am." he said feeling bad about staring at me. "i was just admiring that flower on you're ear... it's amazing, i've never seen one like it."

"oh, thank you." i said blushing a little taking into the fact that he was admiring me for my looks and not just staring at me. little sprite was hiding behind my ear and seemed to blend in with the ember daisy. i forget that she's there sometimes.

"oh thank you... it's a rare flower called an ember daisy." i said.

"you might know it as a phoenix rose." added crimson.

"my word... a phoenix rose... how did you ever manage to harvest it?" he asked. "the last pony i knew to ever find one of those and pick it was completely burnt to ashes... his ashes were burnt to ashes."

"actually he harvested it... mostly." i said still blushing slightly and nodding towards crimson. "i just plucked it from the bulb."

"huh... that's incredible..." said the innkeeper. " even with the few adventurers i get in here i find myself to be lucky enough to have heard of such a thing let alone see one." he said still staring at it.

"so do inns around here receive a lot of business?" asked crimson.

"no... not actually... so you will have to excuse the high prices, it's the only way i can make a living. but adventurers such as yourselves shouldn't have a problem with money... besides, i don't charge as much as other ponies do." he said pulling himself away from the sight of the ember daisy.

"so if inns don't receive so much business then why do you only have two rooms left?" asked crimson. "this is certainly a large inn, you must have plenty of rooms."

"yes... we have twelve rooms. but you see lots of adventurers who come in from the east or west have been avoiding the main center of the city... i'm not sure why." said the innkeeper. "i asked a few and all they could tell me was that there were rumors of it being haunted or something... a bunch of baloney if you ask me... ghosts aren't real... just like what happened in that damn gypsy camp a while back outside of the west exit." crimson seemed to raise an eyebrow at the mentioning of the gypsy camp. i'm sure it was the same place that he was at last time he left.

"well i guess fair is fair..." said crimson. "i too don't personally believe in ghosts and hauntings, despite all the strange things i've seen." crimson reached one hoof into his pouch and shuffled around inside. "so how much for the two rooms?" he asked still searching around in his bag.

"it'll be 20 silver for the both rooms." said the innkeeper.

"sheesh... you weren't kidding about the prices." said crimson.

"tell me about it... there's some chap down the way with shitty rooms and he charges one gold per night... can you believe that?" said the innkeeper rolling his eyes.

"just as much as i believe in ghosts." said crimson. he and the innkeeper both laughed hysterically as crimson pulled out a bunch of silver coins and placed them on the table. the innkeeper grabbed the two keys and counted the silver coins.

"18...19...20." counted the innkeeper. "alright... here you go, good night, and come again." he said smiling as crimson grabbed the keys and turned. he waved bye to the innkeeper and went to go upstairs. we followed him as he walked to the stairs and then walked up the steps. we got to the top floor and it was a long corridor with rooms on each side. crimson looked at the keys in his hoof.

"11 and 12." he said looking at the keys. "nice... last two rooms, lets go... i'm tired." he's tired? just the other day he talked about not having to eat or sleep and just today he's commented about being tired and hungry? i'm not sure what he's playing... but he is acting like normal, so i guess that's his plan. we followed crimson and we walked all the way down to the end of the hall. rooms eleven and twelve were across the hall from each other.

"alright... i guess me and thunder will be sharing a room." muttered nightflame.

"well if you want to... but one of you is going to sleep by yourselves." said crimson.

"by ourselves?" i asked curiously.

"yeah two can share a bed and one can sleep alone..." said crimson. "so if you really want to sleep with thunder, well go for it... i won't judge."

"uhh... never mind, i'll sleep alone." said nightflame.

"i guess i'll share a bed with twilight then." thunder said blushing a little. i was a bit flustered too, but i was more confused than nervous.

"wait wait wait..." i said. "crimson, i thought you said you were tired?" i said confronting him. he just stared down at me with an innocent look.

"yeah... i am." he replied.

"so where are you sleeping?" i asked.

"oh... no, i'm not going to be sleeping tonight." he said.

"but... you said you were tired." i said repeating myself.

"yes... i know." said crimson. "but i'm not going to sleep tonight."

"why not?" asked thunder.

"because... i don't want to... i have something else to do." he said.

"what...?" i asked.

"i'm just going to sit in a tree and meditate probably." crimson said. i honestly couldn't believe what i was hearing... is he for real?

"you're just going to sit in a tree and meditate?" i asked repeating his statement.

"yes..." he said bluntly.

"why?" i asked.

"are you ever going to run out of questions?" he asked. " i promised i would be as normal as i possibly can... but this is something i have to do, just trust me." he said. i wanted to continue, but at this point it was pointless, he can be really stubborn sometimes... well, okay, a lot of times.

"alright... fine." i said giving up. "goodnight crimson."

"goodnight twilight... i'll see you tomorrow morning." he said smiling. "i'll be at the bar when you wake up." he added before disappearing in a large puff of heavy black smoke. the smoke cleared and we decided to head to our rooms. i went into room twelve with thunder and nightflame walked into room eleven. we closed the door behind us and jumped into bed. the bed was big enough for two ponies... but it was still awkward. i slept facing the right side of the room and thunder slept facing the left, we slept back to back. the room was dark enough despite the lights of the glowing forest outside.

it wasn't long until i started feeling my eyes start to get heavy. i couldn't help but close them soon after. i was still awake , but i probably wouldn't be for long. i could feel thunders back up against mine and i felt the gentle push of his breathing. for a second he almost felt like crimson, and soon in my tired daze i couldn't feel the difference. somehow just thinking that thunder rush was crimson was enough to put my mind at ease and i slowly started to drift off into a world of dreams and fantasy.

****crimson was waiting for me there...


	39. Chapter 39: Swayed By Darkness

I sat in the bar with a smile on my face. I was very pleased with the events that had transpired last night. I felt like I had peace of mind now. It was a

Ways bothering me that they might get lonely... So of course I had to help. I couldn't really just leave them the way I did before... So I was feeling bad about it. I am feeling much better now, still feeling quite tired, but its completely worth it. So I sat at the bar with a bottle of beer in my hand and the innkeeper was out in the back washing some dishes. There were two other ponies in leather armor sitting in the inn with me. They looked like decent warriors and travelers. I noticed their blood stained weapons. One had a large two hoofed axe holstered on his back and the other had a mace by his side. I didn't bother them and they didn't notice me... Just the way I'd prefer it. But I am keeping an eye on them, they seem like the type to cause trouble.

I sat at the bar with my back to the large open fire pit sipping on my cold beer. I had forgotten what most alcoholic beverages taste like, but I really can't complain. The taste isn't so bad and it does help me drown my nerves. I took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. I was still somewhat nervous about this whole quest. I know this isn't going to end perfectly, but I still have confidence in my abilities. But shal-grahkan is a god as well, so that would tie us... It will definitely be the biggest fight of my life... So far. Just thinking about the whole thing was making me nervous so I grabbed the neck of my beer bottle and drank down the rest of it. That seemed to help a bit but not as much. I just closed my eyes and started breathing deeply. I was beginning to relax and calm down.

My concentration was, however, broken by the creaking of wooden stairs. I looked back to see a set of purple hooves make their way down the steps, it was twilight. Every step revealed more and more of her body until she was completely visible. I smiled and turned my head back to the bar. Seeing her was nice for a change. She was my best friend after all, thunder and Nightflame have been good friends too, especially thunder. I felt bad about her loosing that staff I gave her, so I guess that ember daisy is a better replacement. I could hear her hooves clopping across the wooden ground. I felt happy she was up so early, I didn't think she would be up for another hour at the least, it is pretty early. Suddenly my heir of joy was suddenly frozen over with a chill of uncertainty.

" hey there missy..." Said a strong blunt voice behind me. It was one of those adventurers, they must have spotted twilight. I don't think things are going to be going so smoothly any more. " what are you doing in this big scary bar without a stallion to protect you." He said. A little sexist, but the remark would have seemed harmless enough if he wasn't using a sarcastic tone of voice to go along with it, I could literally small trouble in the air... But I had a gut feeling that I should watch how this plays out. By the feeling of twilights aura I could tell she was wearing the Phoenix rose, so lets see how this all pans out.

" yeah, what's a lovely mare such as yourself doing in a place like this... It's dangerous you know." Said the other adventurer. He had an equally blunt but less intelligent sounding voice. " there's been lots of crime in this part of the city the last few months... Things are dangerous for a lonely mare." That explains why I was having trouble keeping my eye off they two, they aren't adventurers, they're thugs. This happens often, thugs and crooks dress up as warriors and here's to hide their true faces.

" hey... Get away from me." Twilight said. " my friend is right over there," she said. she must be pointing right at me now, and the thugs probably turned their heads and looked at me, and now their going to laugh.

" what?... That guy." Said one of them. " that's a riot... That colt over there is just a good for nothin' drunk, been here for a while just sipping down beer. Like you came in with him." Finished the stallion. Like I said... They laughed at me.

" look, he's so drunk he couldn't even hear ya." Said the second thug. I could hear the, more clearly then they thought, but I chose to ignore them.

" c'mon lass... You should come with us, we'll keep ya safe." Said one thug.

" hey no... Let go of me." Said twilight.

" hey quit squirming you bitch." Said the thug again. C'mon twilight, fight back... Do it, I know you can while the floor with these assholes... Just focus, don't be scared.

" crimson help... Help." Twilight yelled.

" shut up bitch..." Said one of the thugs. I heard a brief thud like sound and then twilight yelled out in pain. I think they just hit her... That was what set me over the edge. Suddenly I focused a by great deal of energy. the ground around the two stallions who had twilight held tight starting to shake. Then large spikes of bright energy fired up from the ground all around the two thugs and twilight. They shot up around them forming a cage. Needless to say, the two thugs where confused, scared, and probably a bit angry. I stood up from the bar and placed the beer bottle down. I cracked my neck on both sides and stretched out a bit. I turned around and started walking over to the cage of spikes.

" what the..." Said the second thug. I could smell the fear on them. I think it only helped that my eyes and symbols were now glowing from activating my power. My mane and tail as well were glowing white and flowing in the wind.

" what the fuck is this?..." Asked the first thug frantically. " your no unicorn... What is this magic?" I stood there silently and stared at him with by bright burning eyes. His grip on twilight loosened and she broke free. " well answer me, or are you just fucking stupid?" He asked. Immediately I shot up more spikes of light from the ground that cut the two thugs off from twilight. They couldn't get to her now, and she was beginning to settle down.

" you know... I can handle being laughed at and called names." I said. " but when you try and hurt my friends, that's when I get mad."

" uh... We... We're sorry, we didn't know she was your friend." Said the second thug.

" that still doesn't excuse the fact that you hit her, called her a bitch, and were most likely planning to take advantage of her... You make me sick."

" please... We're sorry, it won't happen again, promise." Said the fist thug.

" yeah we promise." Repeated the second thug. I growled and the spikes of the cage slid forward and pressed the, in closer together.

" you think that begging for my forgiveness will reprieve you of your sins... You think that filth like you can just say sorry and expect everything to be okay... You are SCUM." I said in a deep roar as the bars of the cage started closing in on them slowly, if it kept up then they would be crushed by the bars. But I didn't feel like making a mess I front of all the ponies that were now making their way downstairs from hearing all the noise. So I dropped the bars of the cage.

" oh, oh thank you... We're sorry." Said the first thug.

" I haven't let you go yet..." I said. With that a bright light whisked around the two thugs and in one bright flash they were gone. I teleported them away to a place far far away from here. When they were gone I dropped all the rest of the spikes that were around twilight and used my magic to repair the floor boards. I let out a deep sigh and walked over to twilight. " c'mon twilight... Lets go." I said walking away from her towards the door. She followed me and thunder and Nightflame pushed their way through the crowd and trotted after us. We left the bar in a hurry and I started leading the others through the bright morning streets again.

" that was, uhh... It was quite the fight you had back there." Said thunder after we were a good distance from the inn.

" it was just a minor altercation, no pony was hurt. We should carry on now, it's going to take us a while to travel through oasis." I said still trotting along.

" uhm crimson..." Said twilight behind me. I looked back slightly to see her, and she was smiling. " thank you for saving me." She said. I wanted to scold her really for not sticking up for herself. It's not like her to just let ponies push her around like that. She had one huge advantage over them, and that was magic. She could have lifted those two off the ground and threatened to drop them over the edge of the roadway.

" sure twilight..." I said turning my head back. " but next time you should stand up for yourself..." I said putting the truth out there now. " that's why I was hesitant to help, I was waiting for you to do it yourself..."

" but..." She said before I cut her off.

" I know you can... You've dealt with worse situations before... Not too long ago you help hold back an army of possessed skeletons... Don't tell me you can't handle two thugs."

" uhh... I'm... I'm sorry crimson." She said. I let out a deep sigh.

" don't be sorry..." I said. " I'm not mad... And I'm not disappointed... Just a bit stressed. The less attention I draw to myself the better..."

" alright..." Said twilight. " your right, I should have taken care of that on my own."

" is there some kind of lesson your trying to teach us right now?" Asked thunder rush.

" yes... There is." I said. " just because I'm a god, doesn't mean you can always depend on me... And just because I'm immortal doesn't mean I'll always be there."

Neither of them responded and I didn't have anything left to say. So we carried on and marched through the high platforms and tall trees of the southern section of oasis. It was a fresh and beautiful morning. The sun was shining through the canopy and the air was cool and crisp like a perfect spring day... Although it is winter. The other ponies wearing flares and silk clothing walked by smiling and would wave to us.

The wind blew briskly through the sky and ran through my fur and mane. It was a cool breeze that complimented the warm air perfectly. The birds were chirping and flying through the air. There were so many of them, it was like watching fish in the sea, swimming in schools. They were all of different bright colors and varying sizes. The hard wooden walkways under us creaked ever so slightly, but they were sturdy and safe. I saw ponies flying around wearing light silver armor, probably guards on patrol.

" hmm... I think we should start to fly our way to the Capitol." Said thunder rush.

" we will... In an hour or so." I said.

" in an hour... Why?" He asked.

" we have to wait for shadow tail... He's coming, he just got into the city... I've been tracking him." I said smiling and continuing down the path. " we can wait until he gets here... Until then we should get some lunch."

" uhh... Well... I guess so, yeah..." Agreed thunder.

" lunch doesn't sound so bad right now." Said twilight. " I'm starving."

" I think there's a restaurant right up there." Said Nightflame pointing down the wooden walkway to an open area with table and a store. It had a sign on it with a sandwich on it... Yep, that's a restaurant.

" perfect...lets go." I said. We all agreed and started walking over. The place was already partially full of happy and smiling ponies ordering food and having fun. We took our own table and sat down. Soon a waiter walked out of the store, or kitchen and slowly came over to our table.

" good evening," he said. " welcome to the green leaf dinner." He said. " can I get you started with a bread basket before you place a meal, or would you just like the menu's?" He asked.

" we'll start with a bread bowl." Said twilight guessing for all of us. I don't mind, I could go for some bread right now.

" wonderful..." Said the waiter. " here are the menus and the bread bowl will be out in a minute... Enjoy." He said walking away back to the kitchen. He was really neat for a waiter, he was only wearing an apron, not some kind of butlers suit. And he said 'enjoy'... There's nothing here for us to 'enjoy' yet. Oh well, I don't really mind so much as long as he's not too snobby. I grabbed my menu like the others did and started reading through it. There were a lot of things on this menu that looked pretty good, stuff I hadn't tried or eaten in a thousand years.

The waiter didn't take long to come back to our table with a bowl of bread and place it down. There were three or four loaves of bread inside the bread bowl. the bowl was just a straw basket with a decorative cloth holding the bread pulled out a pencil and a small notepad and flipped it open. The bread brown was hot and there was still steam coming out from it. He cleared his throat and got ready to take our orders.

" have you decided on what to eat?" He asked holding his pencil and pad.

" I think I'll have the carrot soup..." Said Nightflame.

" I'll get the tulip and rose petal sandwich." Added twilight.

" I could go for a good garden salad..." Said thunder.

" hmmm..." I murmured looking through the menu.

" and what will it be for you sir?" He asked looking at me.

" I think... I think I'll have the mushroom and onion chowder." I said finding a random meal on the menu.

" excellent... And anything to drink.

" sarsaparilla..." Said twilight.

" root beer." Added thunder.

" just water..." Said Nightflame.

" same here." I added.

" wonderful... Your food will be back momentarily." He said walking away and entering the kitchen again. Thunder was already working on a loaf of bread. Me and twilight grabbed a whole loaf too but Nightflame only took half. We sat there eating bread and waiting for our food. Just then I felt a familiar presence snap into my natural range. It was shadow tail. He was close by, within a mile, and closing in fast. That wolf sure can get around... The sneaky little devil. He'll probably get here within the next five minutes.

" are you okay?" Asked twilight. I looked over to her and only just noticed I was staring off in a trance as I was locked onto shadow tails energy. I shook out of it but I could still feel him growing ever so closer.

" huh... Yeah, I just got distracted." I admitted. " shadow tail is close. He'll probably be here in a few minutes." I said.

" great... We can eat our food, then head out to the Capitol." Said thunder.

" so remember that stuff about the center of oasis being haunted... Remember, what the innkeeper told us?" Asked twilight.

" uhh... Yeah. I remember." I replied.

" you're going to suck us into that aren't you?" Asked thunder in a sarcastic tone.

"Probably." I answered. They all rolled their eyes and I just smiled. They probably don't care too much if I'm there to help but still, it is going to set us back... But we have all the time in the world. I just sat there and smiled. I checked back to shadow tails energy and he was close. But then something disturbing happened. Suddenly shadow tails energy disappeared. My smile soon fell off my face and I shot right up out of my chair which fell beck to the side. The others seemed to be taken back.

" what is it?" Asked twilight frantically. I looked off in the direction that I last felt shadow tails presence. I didn't say anything but then suddenly something whirled right past me, then another. Two guards had just soared past me with spears in their hooves. " what's happening?" Asked twilight again.

" run... Go get out." Shouted somepony from far away. I saw a fleet of Pegasus rushing out of the woods in fear. They popped out of the canopy and the leaves. I kept looking out in the trees but I couldn't see anything... But I felt an unholy presence.

" everypony run." Shouted a different pony

" oh god it's coming this way." Another pony shouted.

" do you think we should run too?" Asked thunder backing up slightly.

" that sounds like a good idea." Said Nightflame. Just then a fire some roar lurked out from the forest and shook the whole canopy. " yeah... Like I said... That sounds like a good idea." He repeated. Just then something rocketed by from the other side of the forest, where all the guards were running to. The mangled body of a guard launched from the dark forest and tore through a few of the tables and hit one of the trees. His body was ripped to shreds from the force of whatever had thrown him along with all the debris he hit. There was blood everywhere and his body was spread out all over the place. The air was filled with frightened a shocked ponies as they screamed out in horror.

" oh god!" Exclaimed twilight. We all looked at the dark forest. The loud roaring had stopped and everything seemed still. All the ponies were hiding now and peaking over corners. The ones that weren't stood there in shock and awe, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly two of the largest trees which were blocking my view were torn from the ground and thrown to the side revealing a vile and dark beast. It let out a fire some roar acompanied by the terrified ponies screams.

The beast was made of complete darkness. It looked like it was a blog of slime or goo. It had large glowing red eyes and teeth, sharper that steel. It didn't have really any kind of shape to it. It had large tentacles that dropped with black goo and smoke. I watched as the goo fell to the ground and touched the trees. It burnt straight through them like acid through paper. It looked like a worm, with a large funnel of teeth in an all black and evil body. Since we were the only ones in plain view, the beast targeted me and my friends as it roared. I squinted my eyes to get a better view and I could feel life within it... But it was dwindling.

The large beast lashed out a volley of large black and slimy tentacles that shot straight for us. Without hesitation I put up a visible barrier of light and the whole forest glowed brightly with light. In a flash of light my armor formed all over my body as well as my hood, cape and mask. I grew about two feet taller and I spread my wings out which seemed to be made of pure light. I pushed the shield out even more and created a blast of light. The light met the creature and it seemed to absorb it. But It grew slightly weaker and let out a shriek. When the light and the darkness mix they cancel each other out... I may have found its weakness.

I spread my wings and took off into the air. The large creature, which is as large as the trees in oasis now is fully focused on me. I let out a roar and fired a blast of light at the creature. I shrieked and steam shot from the wound. There was a gaping hole in the creature now which was quickly filled in. I fired off two more blasts of light and started to ward the beast away. My eyes glowed bright blue now and in a wave of energy my body began to course with electricity and I focused it all. I fired a bolt of lightning right from my chest at the creature and let out a shout. Lightning seemed to work just as well... Any kind of light would work... Hmm.

" be gone demon..." I shouted. The creature just roared at me. I shot another bolt of lightning at the creature but it was relentless. It lashed out a vast array of tentacles at me. Most I dodge and blocked but one hit me and sent me flying to the side. I was able to recover and stay in the air but the acidic slime was burning through my armor and my skin... I didn't care though. I closed my eyes and began glowing intensely with bright light. Soon light started flooding in from the top of the canopy and shone down all over the dark forest. The creature began shrieking and sizzling as the light touched it.

I gathered energy from all around me and it started swirling and collecting in a ball in front of me. The creature was too busy melting away slowly from the light above that it couldn't notice me. The ball of light in front of me had grown large and increased in power. I smiled then let out a fire some shout that attracted the creatures attention. I fired a huge blast of light. It was large and wide and covered the entire forest. It surrounded everything and blinded all the ponies in light. The creature shrieked even more and was quickly washed away by the light. Even I couldn't see past my own blast of light. Soon the pulse of the light began to drown out the sound of the creature until it was all gone. Then there was silence and the light I created soon began to fade and the forest was visible again.

Bellow on the forest floor was a smoldering pile of black ooze. Inside of the ooze was... A pony? Wait... Multiple ponies. As the black sludge began washing away it started to reveal multiple ponies covered in slime. They hazily stumbled around very confused and very scared. I quickly flew down as the other ponies on the walkways started cheering their new hero. I swiftly flew down and I could feel the energies of all these ponies starting to become clear. They must feel drained and tired. I rushed down to go and help out. Once other ponies noticed me heading down to the jumbled mess of black sludge and dazed ponies they rushed down as well. I reached the ground and got close to the mass of black goo.

I focused some of my power and used it to start glowing brightly which caused the black sludge to start dissipating rapidly like water evaporating over a fire. Soon the black slime was almost all gone and only a jumbled mass of unconscious ponies and guards was seen. Along with the ponies were other animals such as squirrels, birds, deer and small woodland creatures. Soon the only thing left was a large pile of ponies and woodland creatures. At least... That's what I thought. Suddenly from the pile of ponies and creatures and vine of black sludge pushed its way past the pile of ponies and wrapped itself around my neck. The other ponies around me who had come down to help get the others were taken back. They left me to fend for myself and ran away... I don't blame them.

Another tentacle lashed out and grabbed my neck again. I had three thick tentacles wrapped tightly around my neck... At least I don't have to worry about being choked out since I don't need to breath. But suddenly the tentacles raised me up and started lashing me around. They whipped me against the ground, against the trees. As I hit the trees I just cut right though them. It was very painful and every time I made impact with something I let out a shout of pain. The tentacles whipped me around and I was unable to break free from the tentacles. Soon the large black mass of slime regained its original form and towered over. The beast stopped thrashing me around and simply held me upon front of it. I could feel the same energy as I could like the black dragon I fought outside of manehattan.

" LET GO OF ME YOU B-ghkkk." Is all I got out before the huge black mass of slime shot out a tentacle that went right for my face. Instead of piercing my skull he stuck his tentacle into my mouth and forced it down my throat. My eyes shrunk inside of my head from the shock and I gagged slightly. I could feel the slimy tentacle passing down my throat and passing into my body like an eel. Soon the black tentacles pulled me into the mass of black slime. I was sucked into the mass of sludge and it covered me fully. I could feel the slime passing through me, pushing into every orafice... It was horrible. I could see slightly as I was slowly being pulled into the slime. As my head started sinking into the slime the last thing I saw was twilight sparkle.

But then there was darkness...

-Authors Note: hey guys. This isn't going to be a happy note... It's going to be very sad. First of all I give my e heart out to all the victims of the Boston marathon bombing, and anybody who lost their lives, limbs, or innocence to that horrible tragedy. I'm looking at the news right now hoping that they catch this last guy and hope that he doesn't hurt anybody else.

So my respects go out to everybody and everyPONY hurt or killed in that tragedy. I was actually at the starting line of the marathon, and it was hard to believe that only 26 miles away a bomb went off and killed three people. I didn't even learn about this until late Monday... God you should have seen my face.

and on a lesser note but still tragic, I apologize for the quickness of this chapter... Only a few days ago something horrible happened... My computer had crashed and I lost EVERYTHING. So I had several chapters already written out but now they're gone. The only things that exist of this story now are the chapters up on this website, this is now the only place you can find this story... Everything is gone... And so my self esteem is down and unfortunately I'm having another flash of writers block. I can only remember most much of what I've written... But everything is gone.

so please be patient with me... It might be a hard time for everyone right now... But I can't complain about my situation... It's not as dire as that of other people. So once again, my heart goes out to all the people caught in the Boston marathon bombing and I hope they catch this last son of a bitch... So stay safe...stay sober... And stay shady my friends. Shadowsythe...out.- end of transmition-


	40. Chapter 40: Port Dredd

-Authors Note: I CANT BELIEVE I JUST FUCKING DID THAT. Jesus rollerblading Christ. sorry guys for anybody who knows what im talking about. if you were at all confused by the last two chapters its because i didn't post this chapter in between them. im trying to type right now and im laughing my ass off. it took me a few minutes to figure out what people were saying and when i saw it i was just like "OH FUCK". so... sorry guys... here's the missing chapter. i need a fucking drink. stay shady Hombre's.-End of Note-

"Youuu... You are very...slow..." Said a strange voice through the darkness. " I thought, you would have cared... About your... Wife." The voice was coarse and very scratchy. Sounded like a combination between a snake like voice and a deep dragon sounding voice... It was very strange. All around me was darkness... I could feel my energy being sapped out of me... And drained. I don't know how long I've been in this black sludge, but I know that voice... I haven't heard it before... But I don't need to, to know that voice. " I expected you to be... Quick about... It." Said the voice. " I've been... Very... Eager to taste your... Soul."

" Hrgg... Grkkk... Urk... Ghkkk." I could only let out sounds and strange noises as it was hard to speak with all this slime passing down my throat, into my stomach and working through my intestines. Every second I could feel myself growing weaker and weaker... Not having my energy taken away... But just repressed. I struggled constantly... But every time I moved it was like swimming... Just, it was like swimming in an endless sea of black slime.

" I guess... It's up... To me... To give you a... Little... Push." Said the voice. I found it strange that he took pauses to take in a deep and wheezy breath after every few words. He couldn't carry on a sentence completely without pausing to take a deep wheezy breath... Like somepony with asthma might do. " you need to... Hurry up...*wheeze*... * cough* *sputter*... " it sounded like he was drowning or something. " it's time... To... Go crimson." He said and suddenly I felt some kind of force push me forward.

Before I knew it I forced out of the black slime. I hurled though the air before hitting the ground and tumbling forward for a few feet. I pulled onto my knees and started throwing up black slime. I was covered in the stuff and it burned. Slime started oozing out of every orafice in my body, which was very unpleasant. I felt weak, faint, tired... Powerless. I clutched my stomach once more and threw up even more black ooze. I sputtered and coughed. I flipped over on my back in pain and stared at the large black glob of sludge. I watched as the black blob started to smoke and evaporate. Soon there was a blast of steam that washed over me and blinded me. All I could see were my own hooves. The next thing I heard was a series of coughing... Which wasn't my own.

Once the smoke passed over I could start to see a faint pile of ponies. Theses is were in particular my friends. I was startled to see that they were here with me. I smiled a bit and went to get up and say hi. But suddenly a sharp pain tore through my whole body. I sputtered, coughed, and threw up more black slime before falling back down and moaning in pain. Another bolt of pain washed over me as I coughed up more black slime that only managed to pool in my mouth and drip down the side of my muzzle as it crept towards the ground. I leaned over to the side and spit it out only to go back to laying on my back.

" what's that sound?" Said one voice. It was twilight. Her voice was followed by barking as I could feel paws running towards me. It was too late though, I had already started fading into blackness. I was lost in darkness with only pain and agony to keep me company. But soon the pain washed away and a different feeling hit me. Something wet, kept being dragged over my face... Like... Like something was licking me? I slowly sputtered to life and opened my eyes to see that it was shadow tail who was vigorously licking my face. His breath smelled horrible but I still managed to smile at his company. " crimson... Crimson... Wake up... Are you alright?" Asked twilight, who was not in my field of vision... I couldn't see much, everything was still black.

" ugh... What... Oh god my stomach." I said clutching my stomach.

" get off him boy..." Said a new voice, who I think was Nightflame. Once he spoke up shadow tail stopped licking my face and gave me some room to breathe. I slowly started to open my eyes to see a circle of friends sitting around me with worried faces. I smiled at them and changed those worried faces to smiles.

" hey... Are you going to be alright?" Asked twilight shaking me and helping me up. I stumbled to my hooves and we all stood up. I could get a clear view of where we were. It was an ocean shore. The dry and hot sand under us... But it wasn't just sand. It was like a thin layer of sand over stone. There were calm waters behind us that seemed to span out forever. In front of us was a jungle like biome. There was a clear line where the sand and the jungle met. The air was salty and I could hear seagulls. It was warm... Very warm... Like a hot summer day at the beach. " hey... I asked you a question." Said twilight waving a hoof in front of my face and snapping me back to reality.

" uh... What?" I said looking at my friends. They were all here... Wherever this is. Twilight, thunder, Nightflame, even sprite and shadow tail.

" she asked you if your feeling alright?" Said thunder repeating twilights question.

" uhm... I... I think so." I replied.

" you don't look good though." Said twilight.

" it think I'll be fine..." I said. And almost as a cruel joke another wave of pain shot through my body and I buckled to my knees and threw up more black sludge. This time, disturbingly there was a good amount of blood mixed in with the black slime. " uhgg..." I muttered with black slime and blood dripping from my mouth, it tasted horrible... Like sour milk. Without warning I felt more pain and threw up yet again. This time there was respectively more blood than there was black slime. The others stared in horror.

" oh god..." Said twilight covering her mouth. Se looked like she was about to throw up as well. Thunder and Nightflame stared in horror.

" I take that back... I don't feel fine." I said. I managed to get back up on my own hooves, the pain had subsided and I felt perfectly fine now. The fur around my mouth was coated with slime and blood and so was the inside of my mouth. I wiped my mouth and tried spotting out some of the slime.

" we need to get you help." Said twilight.

" yeah there has to be some kind of town or something... Uh... Somewhere... Wherever this is." He said.

" I... I think we're in stallasia." I said.

" alright now your going crazy... There's no way that slime all took us across the ocean." Said twilight.

"Well I guess there's only one way to find out... But where do we go?" Said thunder rush.

" we're trapped." I pointed out. " jetties to the left and right... Ocean behind us, and jungle up ahead... If I had to pick the safest rout... I would say trying to scale one of these jetties... They seem stable to me." I said looking over to the smallest rock jetty to our left.

" that seems like the smartest idea." Said twilight. So we started making our way over to the small rock jetty. It was no more than a few meters above the ground. Only as big as a single room... And it was coarse and jagged too which meant it would be easy to climb. We made our way over and I just took in the surroundings. The warm sand rolling under my hooves, the cool and salty sea breeze blowing past my face and through my hair. There were only small clouds scattered through the sky. The squawking of seagulls pierced the air and the crash of waves thundered from the ocean. There were sharp shells and rocks scattered everywhere. And as we soon came up to the jetty we stared up at it. The jetty seemed much bigger up close.

" well... Lets get going... It doesn't seem to bad..." Said thunder rush as he put his hoof on the first dent of the rocks and started pulling himself up. Nightflame flapped his wings and started slowly flying up the rocky jetty. I spread my wings out and another massive wave of pain washed over me. I grunted and clutched my stomach. I knelt down again and started to gag. Then I threw up another puddle of blood and black slime.

" crimson!" Said twilight jumping down from the jetty and walking over, making sure to steer clear of the mess which was already getting soaked up by sand. " crimson your not well." She said.

" yeah... I figured." I said as I grit my teeth and clutched my stomach. I spit out any left over slime still stuck in my mouth and slowly rose up. " ughhh... Fuck." I said looking up at the jetty. I tried spreading my wings out again and I managed to start flapping and getting into the air. Unfortunately another sharp pain rushed through my body and I dropped to the ground. I landed on my hooves knelt down and grit my teeth from the pain. " ughhh... Hnng." I muttered feeling like I'm going to throw up again. I managed to push it back thankfully. Twilight rested her hoof over my shoulder.

" here I can teleport us up and over..." She said. I looked up at her and smiled. Her horn started to glow a vibrantly light purple and the air around us shimmered and sparkled with the same color. Soon in a flash we were warped up to the top of the jetty. Nightflame was already up there and thunder was only inches away from the top. We waited and it wasn't long before Nightflame helped thunder up on top. We turned around to get down off the jetty but on the other side, the beach met the jetty and it was just a straight walk off.

" hey... Look..." Said twilight pointing over to a town laying across the beach. I squinted and started homing in on the town to examine it further. In the water around the town were huge docks with even bigger ships. Looked like a large shanty version of ponyville. There was a lighthouse nearby and a few ships were already leaving the port. The water was full of large cargo ships, passenger ships, and even fishing vessels. Not sure why they would need fishing vessels... Do ponies eat fish? I kinda hope they do. I looked onward and saw a flag flying up high on a large building... Looked kinda like a church. I read out loud what the flag said.

" port... Dredd." I muttered under my breath.

" port what?" Asked Nightflame.

" port dredd..." I repeated. " so... I don't think we're in stallasia... But this must be the port... We completely skipped over all of oasis... "

" well that's lucky..." Said twilight. " we should get going... Crimson your sick and you need help."

" if I'M sick, then nopony can help me." I said.

" what do you mean... Somepony has to know something." Said thunder.

" remember what I said..." I recalled. " I cannot be afflicted by mortal diseases... Just be lucky you guys aren't sick... In fact, I'm thankful that you three aren't sick."

" wait... Us three... Damnit, where's shadow tail." Said thunder looking around. It didn't hit me until now that he was missing.

" how does he keep doing that?" Asked twilight.

"WOOF!" Suddenly a loud bark startled us from behind and we looked over to see shadow tail sitting there in the sand in front of the town wagging his tail and smiling.

" how does he do that?" Asked thunder.

" I don't know..." I said. " but he's here now... C'mon boy, lets go... We need to get tickets for a ship." I said walking off the rock jetty and onto the warm sand. Shadow tail followed me and so did the others. We kept on towards the port and I watched the ships sailing around in the open sea.

" crimson if you can't fly two feet without almost throwing up, it's going to be like hell on that ship for you." Said twilight. She did have a point. I seem to react badly to too much motion... But I'm hoping that this sickness will cure itself... Hopefully.

" I'll be fine... It's not like me to get sea sick anyway." I said.

" I can testify to that..." Said thunder with a smile on his face. " for the three years we were stationed on a navy ship for our home country, he was the only one who hadn't thrown up on the ship." Just then a sharp pain arose from my stomach and I threw up another mixture of blood and black slime.

" I'll believe it when I see it." Said twilight staring down at me condescendingly.

" ughh, dammit... Where is all this black slime coming from?" I asked as black slime and blood dripped from my mouth.

" where is all that blood coming from?" Asked thunder staring at the puddle horrified by the amount of blood in the mixture.

" ughh... Lets just keep going." I said picking myself up and lumbering forward. The pain quickly subsided and I carried myself forward normally.

" do we have enough money for tickets?" Asked twilight.

" we should... Crimson had quite some money in his bags before... We should still have enough right?" Asked thunder.

" crimson where are your bags?" Asked twilight. Suddenly I stopped and took in everything at once. The weightlessness on my back was overburdening. My bags weren't here... They must... Have fallen off. They're in oasis still if I had to bet. More specifically, they're over the back of some very lucky pony. I sunk my head down and let out a heart shattering sigh.

"Fuck..." I said.

" you... You left the, at oasis... Didn't you?" Said thunder walking over.

" uhh... Yes... I did." I said reluctantly.

" great... So what now." Sighed Nightflame.

" how are we going to pay for tickets for the ship?" Asked twilight.

" I'm not sure." I said as we kept walking. " we can try finding work, maybe see if some rich pony will pay for help... A quest or something. We don't really have much to sell. I've got my sword and Nightflame has the bow. But this sword isn't a physical sword really... It's just solid light and energy... Once I let it go it would dissipate instantly."

" well... What else could we do?" Asked thunder?

" I could sell this bow... It's fine... I know it might be expensive... But if it comes down to it, I could just sell it cheap." Said Nightflame.

" no... You keep the bow." I said. " it has a special connection with you for some reason... That makes it almost non tradable... If worse comes to worse... We could beg." I said.

" beg..." Twilight said in a monotone voice. " you expect us to beg."

" we could stow away on one of the ships." Exclaimed thunder.

" no... We don't want to do that... There'd find us, and probably throw us overboard." I said.

" I don't think they would do that." Said twilight.

" this isn't like the ships in Equestria." I said. " I wouldn't trust a ship from a place called port dredd."

" ehh... I think I agree with crimson..." Said Nightflame. " I know I wouldn't test it."

It wasn't much longer until we came close to the city. And not long after we took our first steps into port dredd. We walked around looking for something that could prove as a sign. The place... Was... A...MESS. there were rats running around. The streets were dirty and filled with drunk and poor ponies begging for money. The alleyways were home to suspicious looking ponies... And everypony looked and smelt like a sailor. Stray cats and dogs would run by, chickens in the street, and crowded houses. Shady merchants had stores and stalls set up all around and the air was washed over with salt and smog. There was a bar on every street... Sometimes there would be bars next to bars.

We walked through the streets keeping to ourselves and remaining quiet. We were heading to the docks to see if there was a ticket station or something were we could get tickets to board a ship... But something tells me it isn't going to be that easy. As we passed through the streets I kept glancing back and forth between the shops, bars and broken homes. I kept a watchful eye and shadow tail would often growl at stray cats, or even stray ponies just sitting around and looking shady. The sand had subsided into a cobblestone path which lead to a large wooden dock. We were close now. After a few more minutes of walking the cobblestone soon turned to wooden planks and the smell of smog left the air.

We walked along the docks and passed by the large ships floating in the water. The sides were green with algae and covered in barnacles. There were barrels, crates, and other cargo scattered along the bridge. Each ship had an admirable set of cannons along with a crew on the deck just messing around. The docks seemed to go on forever and ships could be seen all through the sea. The sound of bells filled the air and then the roaring of a horn as one ship next to us churned to life and large white sails shot up from the deck and expanded over the sky, blocking out the sun. The ship left slowly at first but was gone in a minute. We kept walking when I felt a sudden pain in my stomach again. I grit my teeth and rushed to the edge of the dock where that other ship was previously occupying. I threw up a mixture of blood and slime into the ocean and groaned as such. My friends gathered around me worried for me. But I just held my head over the edge of the dock.

" getting sea sick already?" Said a salty old voice from behind us. " your not even on a ship yet."

" I don't get sea sick..." I said responding to the voice. I was the only one not looking over at the pony. " I'm just regular sick."

" never the less... If your sick, the sea will make it worse... Believe me I know." Said the voice. I turned around and picked myself up to see this pony. He was a grey pony with short brown hair hidden under a bandana and captains hat. He had a white beard and leather clothing with buckles, chains, and straps running all over it. He even had an eyepatch.

" well the way your dressed..." I said looking over him. " there no way you couldn't be a captain... Am I wrong?" I asked.

" no... That's right, I'm the captain around these parts. And this is my ship here, the oceans fury." He said gesturing to the massive ship behind him. It was a large ship with twin sets of cannons, a large crew on deck, Tons of cargo, and large sails that bore a rising moon over a blue sea. The ship itself was painted in a wave-ish design with every shade of blue. The wood of the ship was dark and looked like it MIT be made of mahogany. The front of it had and iron working in the forward shaft. The entire front of the ship looked like it could sail right through a mountain and come out unscathed.

" that's an impressive ship." Said twilight.

" thank you miss..." He said. " now... What are the lot of you doing here?" He asked. " you don't look like sailing ponies."

" we're looking for a ship... We need to get to stallasia." I said.

" funny... me and my crew were just about to be off to stallasia... but, you all look like you'd rather be off in a forest chasing leprechauns." He said. " what could pony folk like you possibly have to do in stallasia?"

" your sailing to stallasia!" Exclaimed thunder. I spark of hope had just lit up in all of our hearts.

" that's right lad... We sail in three hours."

" would you be willing to take us there?" I asked.

" no..." He said immediately.

" you gonna think about that for a minute..." Muttered Nightflame.

" please... We need to get there... It's important." I said.

" and why's that?" He asked raising an eyebrow. My mind rapidly rushed with ideas. But I couldn't think of a valid excuse.

" I'm an important delegate from the great country of Equestria." I said standing up tall now. The others looked at me confused, but they kept a low profile because they knew I had a plan.

" really now..." Said the sea pony looking very unamused. " you don't look like an important delegate... And these certainly don't look like important ponies..." He said. " well... Except that one." He said pointing out Nightflame. " never seen an alicorn around these parts... He's more likely to be royalty than you."

" well... I-I am..." He said. " my father in king of iron forge... I'm his son, Nightflame."

" yeah... And I'm a dragon." He said as he started chuckling at his own joke.

" we need to get to stallasia..." I said. " we can't pay you... But we can work... We'll do whatever. Swab the decks, man the cannons, hoist the sails... Whatever it is." I said.

" what happened to being an important delegate?" He asked.

" well...uh... To be honest, that was a lie." I said. I was feeling sick as a dog. I couldn't concentrate and I was getting my ass handed to me by a crotchety old sailor in leather wrappings.

" well... Normally I would be disappointed, but seeing as how lying through your teeth is something that'll get you far in this town... I can't blame ya." He said. " so exactly what are you four... Uh five." He said looking at shadow tail with an interested look. " and no lying this time."

" we're... Well, we're adventurers." I said.

" I thought I said no lying."

" it's not a lie..." I said. " we've traveled all the way from Equestria. We scaled the chilling mountains, braved through the harsh cold and traveled our way through indigo city. From there we came through oasis, then here... We cut through the mountain pass by indigo city instead of running through the burning sands."

" hmm... Well while that is a believable tale... I said before. Lying through your teeth will get you far in this town... But it won't get you past me."

" surely there must be something we can do to prove it." Said twilight.

" hey... HEY, get back here you thriving scum!" Yelled a new voice. On the other end of the dock a group of shady looking ponies were running with cargo strung to their backs and sailors chasing after them.

" that's how you can prove it..." Said the sea pony. " stop those thieves... And then maybe we can work something out." He said smiling smugly like he didn't expect us to do it. Taking the challenge we turned to face the thieves running towards us. Right off the bat Nightflame pulled out his bow and pulled back on the string. A blue glowing arrow formed and it slowly turned red. He let go and it tore through the air. It cut through the leg of one pony and went clean through the dock. That one pony cried out in pain and fell to the ground being crushed by the barrel strapped to his back. The others pressed on and they noticed us as a threat.

Twilight acted next and used her magic to target two of the thieves. The cargo on their backs lifted up off them and they looked up in surprise. Se used he magic to break the boards under their hooves and they yelled as they fell into the ocean water. She repaired to boards and placed the cargo on the dock. Thunder charged up his horn and just as the thieves grew near us he let all his energy out in a rippling blast that knocked all of them back and sent ripples through the water. A few of the, went over the edge of the dock but twilight managed to save the luggage they had stolen. I was about to make my move when a few of the ponies threw small black balls over to us. The small pellets burst and created a cloud of thick black smoke. The others started coughing and wheezing. I called up a ghost of wind and the smoke was gone in a second.

I looked around and the ponies had already gotten past us. They were heading towards the town now. I glared at them and smiled. The symbols over my body began to show and glow white as too did my eyes. As the remaining five thieves ran for their lives I bent down in a pouncing position and charged my energy. I trusted myself upward and from the ocean floor shot out several spikes of dark shadows that smoked and were pitch black. They tore through the boards of the dock and completely cut off the rout for the thieves. Unfortunately I was a bit inaccurate and on of the thieves was cut in half, and so was the cargo he was carrying... But the other four stopped dead in their tracks.

I grinned again and in a puff of smoke I vanished and soon reappeared in the middle of the four thieves. My symbols went from white to black. The cargo on their backs soon smoked black and vanished. It quickly reappeared next to the others and they seemed taken back and afraid from this. Their fear soon turned to anger when I reared my hind legs and bucked one of them square in the chest. He went flying off the dock and moved back so far that he hit a ship on a different dock. When I turned my head to the others one of them was rearing up to buck me in the head. He shot his legs out and hit me, but he may as well have just kicked a stone wall because I felt nothing, and I didn't even budge. He pulled his legs back and stared up at me in a shocked state.

I pulled all the black spikes from the wall I made over to me and made a circle of tentacles that waved around me. Within a second and using very fluid movement I grabbed all three remaining ponies by their legs and held them up. Quickly and one after the other I disposed of them. I threw one of the, into the ground and they tore through the dock. I moved towards the other one who I spun around once before whipping him into the deep sea towards the horizon. I got bored and just tossed the last guy into the air up high towards the town. Chances are he'll die on impact. Once it was all done I sucked the shadows into me giving myself a much needed boost of energy. I stopped glowing and my eyes faded back to their milky blue color as I teleported back over in a puff of smoke. The sea captain just stared at the scene I was just at with curiosity and intent. The other sailors behind us and all around just looked at me with disbelieve. They had expressions of shock and awe spread over their faces. My friends just looked at me the way they always do.

" there... Is that proof enough for ya." I said. The sea captain took in a deep breath and let out sigh.

" well... That was impressive, no doubt about it. I can see now you weren't lying about being adventurers... I think I may have some space on my ship for you four..." He said. We both smiled and I let out a sigh of relief.

" oh, thank you..." I said.

" but..." He said with pronunciation. " I do plan on making you work... This isn't a luxury cruise... It's a ship. Pirate activity has been spiking recently and the seas are a dangerous place. If I can rely on you four to pull some weight around here and protect the ship... Then I'll bring you to stallasia." He said.

" that's a fair deal..." I said. He held out his hoof and I grabbed it. We shook hooves and it was official. In three hours we would be sailing off to stallasia. But the journey there will most likely be grueling and very long... But we can rough it out.

" thank you captain." I said smiling. " uhh... What is your mane anyway?" I asked.

" I'm the famous captain dredd..." He muttered. " this whole port was built around my ship... Now, what are your names?" He asked.

" my name is crimson blast..." I said. " I'm quite famous myself."

" I'm twilight sparkle..."

" my name is Nightflame."

" and I'm thunder rush."

" hmm..." Said dredd. A sudden bark ruptured the air and dredd looked down to see shadow tail smiling and wagging his tail. " oh, I almost forgot..." He said. " I'm sorry to say this... But I can't allow any dogs on my ship. He can't come with us." He said. And suddenly the whole situation went sour.

" what?..." Exclaimed twilight. " what not?" She asked worryingly.

" this ship has never had any luck with animals... No matter what kind of animal... Something goes wrong." He said. " I'm sorry... But that's the way it is... I'll only take you four." He said.

" no..." Said Nightflame abruptly capturing everypony's attention. " you only need to take three." He said.

" what?" Asked thunder.

" I wanted to tell you sooner... But."

" oh not this again..." Said twilight.

" your not coming with us are you." I said with mournful eyes.

" no... I can't." He said. " my father needs me at the kingdom... And stallasia is too far away from home... I'm sorry crimson... I can't come with you... But I wish you the best of luck." He said.

" how are you going to get home?" Asked twilight.

" I don't know." Said Nightflame.

" uhh... Well, we were just about to sail to Equestria actually." Said one of the sailors who we had just helped. He walked over. We all turned our attention to him. " I'm the captain of that ship just over there... I wanted to come and thank you for saving our cargo... Well most of it." He said recalling the one barrel I accidentally destroyed. " if you want... We can take you are your... Uh... Wolf... Thing, to Equestria."

" well... I have a way home now." Said Nightflame smiling, but hiding some regret under his smile.

" I don't know what else to say." Said thunder.

" me neither..." Added twilight hanging her head and kicking a hoof.

" I do..." I said. I reached over to Nightflame and gave him a hug. " goodbye... And good luck." He hugged right back and smiled.

" if anypony needs good luck it's you three." He said as he let go and stepped back smiling. " so you hold onto your luck, I'll be fine." I smiled too and we both took a step back and smiled.

" well... I hate to break up the moment..." Said the other captain. " but if you want a trip to Equestria, then we'd better get going... The ship leaves in four minutes." Nightflame turned and smiled at the captain and then followed him. We waved goodbye the entire time as they walked down the docks and up the ramp onto the ship. He waved from the ship for a minute before the anchor slowly rose up from the sea. Shadow tail had obediently followed Nightflame. And I think I noticed little sprite hiding behind nighflames horn. The ship slowly creaked to life as the sails rose and the strong sea breeze caught them and irked the ship forward.

We all kept waving goodbye to the ship as it started leaving and soon enough it was gone. And not before long we had boarded our own ship. Not long after our own ship started to jerk to life and we pulled out of the dock as well. It won't be long now until we're in stallasia. And only one step closer to rescuing rainbow dash. I couldn't help but feel a wave of immense pride wash over me when we set off. We headed towards the sunset as it lit up this water in front of us and turned the once blue sea into a sea of fire. The orange water from the sunset glistened and sparkled as the sun submerged itself in the everlasting sea and the night began to settle.

Next stop... Stallasia.

-here's the Authors note that's supposed to be on this chapter:

-Authors Note: sail right guys, here it is. Sorry for not posting on Friday, I apologize... I've recently gotten down with the sickness and I was just feeling like shit yesterday... So I apologize... But I'm feeling better now and here it is. Also because I feel like posting every Friday is too much time I between posts and I'm pilling up on chapters now, I'm just going to post a chapter whenever I finish it. So now the postings will be at random intervals.

And next time when I don't post a chapter in a while or I miss a date that I promised... Don't flip your shit...okay? You guys need to calm your tits. I woke up this morning and I was going to check my inbox... Knowing very well... That everyone was going to me freaking about not having a chapter on Friday. I do appreciate that you guys love my story so much... But calm your tits. Next time a miss a date or something or its been a while, just assume that I'm either horribly sick... Or dead. But don't worry... Just cause I don't post in a while doesn't mean the stories over forever. So enjoy the chapter. Stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady... Bai.-end of note-


	41. Chapter 41: Storms A Brewing

It's been two weeks already at sea. They have been a very peaceful two weeks, but we did do our fair share of work. Whatever kind of sickness I had was not fading... But I was getting used to it. I found out ways to keep myself from throwing up... But i still did every now and then. Our small group as grown even smaller now. It's just me, thunder, and twilight ever since Nightflame left and took shadow tail and sprite with him. Captain dredd always mentioned that there was heavy pirate activity in the seas of late. Though he said that we were lucky not to have seen any yet... But he said to give it a while. His crew were always stationed around the cannons and took shifts in the crows nest.

I was leaning over the bow of the ship staring out into the endless ocean. The waves bashing against the side of the ship forced a cooling mist up towards the side and it sprayed against my smell of salty sea air had grown very common and was hard to notice by now. There was a hardy breeze blowing from behind which gave us a good boost of speed. It was a nice and bright day, not a cloud in the sky and the sun rested above the world. It must have been close to noon because the sun was shining rot in the middle of the sky.

The first few days were rather awkward for us, like being the new kids in school. None of the crew really talked to us, but after some time we all lightened up and we got to know the crew. They are pretty friendly when you get to know them, despite their hardy and thuggish looking exterior, they're pretty nice ponies. The ship rocked slightly and gently back and forth, from side to side. Luckily none of us got sea sick...except for me, but I'm just regular sick. Speaking of sick. Just as the ship hit a large wave and jerked upward a sharp pain rushed through my entire body and I grunted in pain and threw up a mixture of blood and black slime over the side of the ship. I moaned in misery as I drooped over the side of the ship with black slime and blood dripping from my mouth and the pain rushing through my body was slowly fading.

" hey sicky..." Said a voice behind me. It wasn't long until I pinned it out to be thunder rush. " you done puking now?... We have to hoist up the second sail... C'mon." He said. I briefly turned my head to see him standing there with a coil of rope loosely hanging around his neck.

" yeah... Give me a sec..." I said gathering my composure. I let out a low groan and then stepped back from the side of the ship feeling better now. I walked over to thunder and he tossed me the coil of rope. We walked over to the mast and he untied some of the rope around the knots. Once it was loose he started pulling it up and tied it down again. I did the same thing on the other side and the sail was ready to be hoisted up. We both grabbed the larger rope hanging from the mast and started pulling it. Soon the large bluish sail started rising up from the deck and popped open so the wind can hit it. Once the sail was halfway up the wind caught it and it jerked it forward pulled on the rope for a moment. We pulled it back and soon it was all the way up. It took hold of the rope with my teeth and thunder grabbed the end of it and started tightening it to the mast. He tied three knots and gave me the ok to let go. I let my grip loose on the rope and it eased into place. The sail was up and running, and already I could feel the ship picking up speed.

" there we go... That should hold." Said thunder.

" nice work boys..." Said another voice from our side. It was twilight walking out from the underside of the ship and smiling.

" thanks..." I said grinning and slightly sweating, mostly from the heat... Also the ocean spray did soak my face pretty well. " what exactly have you done all day?" I asked jokingly.

" well crimson." Said twilight walking over to me smiling and as she passed me she flicked her tail at me and thunder just chuckled. " if you must know I was down in the lower deck helping chef make lunch... Which will be ready soon, so if you want any I'd head down." She said urging us forward to the stairs leading to the lower deck. You probably guessed that chef is... Well, our chef. We cal him chef because he doesn't have a name, or at least that's what I've heard so far. He's a chubby pony with light brown fur and dark blonde hair. He has a short and scrubby beard and always wears a white apron stained with all kinds of stuff. He even wears one of those chef hats too. He's a really great pony and one of the friendliest and jolliest on the entire ship. I'm not sure why I asked twilight what she was doing, because she's always down there helping out chef.

We made our way down the deck and over to the kitchen area. It isn't much of a kitchen area really. There's a small portable wood burning stove that chef uses to cook his food, and of course since there's fire he needs to keep a bucket of water around the place for safe measures. There was a large counter cutting off the kitchen area where chef put his food. Today it looked like spinach and onion soup. There were already hot bowls out and they were steaming. Me and thunder always get out food first because twilight gives us a tip before lunch is called. We entered the kitchen and chef noticed us and shone us his big hearty smile like every other time.

" h-hey... Did my little birdie tip you off about lunch again?" He said raising an eyebrow and smiling.

" yes she did." Said thunder in a chipper voice. We both walked up to the counter and chef had already picked out two bowls for us.

" well, eat up boys..." He said handing us the bowls. We grabbed them and smiled. The smell of food was really thick in this room, all the time. It was a mixture of everything he ever made. Me and thunder took our bowls and sat down on some crates nearby as chef finished putting out all his stuff and placing down his huge pot of soup for the crew. We munched down on our food and chef took a large, thick triangle and rang it furiously. " SOUPS ON EVERYPONY!" He shouted as he rung the bell. That bell could be heard from every corner of the ship and probably a ways off the ship too. Me and thunder continued eating and it wasn't long until the room was flooded with ponies.

Chef poured soup into more bowls as ponies took them so there would always be a bowl to grab right off the bat. Some of the crew passed us by with their food and smiled at us as they walked by. Me and thunder waved and they soon went to sit down somewhere else and eat. We finished our food and returned the bowls to chef. His kitchen hand took the bowls and put them in a barrel full of other dishes and soapy water. I smiled and me and thunder walked off to some other part of the ship to find twilight. As we walked out of the kitchen and walked past all the ponies munching down their food happily a sharp roar of a horn tore through the air and everything went still... Dreadfully still.

"SHIP...HO!" Yelled the pony from on top of the crows nest. The entire cabin was silent. Me and thunder exchanged a strange look and we rushed up to the deck just as all the other crew members started rushing around. They ran towards their cannons and the others followed us up to the deck to get behind the cannons up there. As we got up into the deck I saw the captain on top of the bridge. Thunder went off to find twilight and I rushed to the bridge. Out in the distance I could see two ships. Both with black sails and red painted hulls. The two ships were gearing closer, but the one on the left was getting closer, faster. It was a smaller ship with medium sails and one set of cannons. The other ship was a huge iron wall, with three sets of cannon and huge iron masts and sails. I rushed up the stairs to the bridge and almost threw up going up the stairs, but I forced it back and carried on.

" captain..." I blurted out rushing up to captain dredd.

" argh..." He said glaring at the two ships. " of all the pirates to run into..." He said.

" who are they?" I asked.

" the infamous twin captains... Thunder and lightning red hoof."

" thunder and lightning?" I said questionably.

" those are their names..." He said. " captain lightning red hoof captain the bolt, that little ship that's gaining on us fast." He said. " and that monstrous behemoth lagging behind it is the thunder wave, captained by thunder red hoof. It goes by the nickname of 'the iron wall' and the bolt has the nickname of ' the sea sword.'."

" do we fight?" I asked.

" we don't have much of a choice now..." He said. " the bolt has us in its sights and it'll easily catch up to us. It might not be threatening... But it's almost impossible to hit because of its speed and long range cannons, she'll keep us occupied until her brother bets here."

" her brother?" I asked. " are you talking about the ships or the captains?"

" the captains." He said glancing over to me. " lightning red hoof is a mare... A small mare, but she can use a pair of daggers like you wouldn't believe... Then there's her brother...thunder. " he muttered. " biggest stallion that has ever touched the sea..."

" so is this where I come in?" I asked.

" yes... " he said. " I'm not worried about taking much hell from the bolt... But when that other ship gets to us... There won't be any hope."

" the bolt is gaining on us captain." Yelled one of the members from down on the deck. The bolt was now close to the ship but it didn't get much closer it turned and started circling the ship from a distance. It was moving incredibly fast. Within seconds it ran past the range of the cannons.

" take out that ship... And try and take the captain alive... There's a price on her head that would be a mighty profit... Plus it might give her brother incentive not to shoot us down if she's on board." He said.

I was about to reply but before I knew it a thundering sound echoed gently through the air and then it was followed by a sinister whirling sound. The next thing I knew someone shouted to take cover and the ship shook and rock as cannon balls hit the side of our ship. They didn't even rare through, but they broke in the wood. Our own ship emitted a thundering roar as the starboard cannons fired at the bolt... But we missed horribly.

" quickly go... Take her out before she takes us out... And get her alive." He said. I nodded and knelt down into a crouching position as I spread my wings out. I shot up straight into the air in a blaze of light and fury. My armor started to appear on my body as well as my hood and mask. I flew through the air in a ball of light and set my sights on the small ship. I rocketed down towards the ship and burst right through it. I tore through it and hit water. I flew right back up and more gently this time, landed on the deck of the ship. There were pirates in caps and sea clothing all over with swords already drawn out. My first attack was at the cannons. Using my magic I forced up spikes of light under each cannon and threw them over the side of the ship. Next I lashed out blades of light and cut straight throu the masts. I also might have sliced through a few ponies too... But that's whatever.

The ropes coiled and snapped under the pressure and the mast started falling until it hit the deck and snapped in half. The top of it went into the water and the bottom of it just made a dent in the deck. I turned my attention to the pirate crew who were staring at me with incredible disbelief. I let out a shout and fired up multiple spikes under a group of pirates skewering them. Blood splattered across the ruined and broken deck, and the hole I made earlier was slowly letting water in the lower deck, sinking the ship slowly.

One of the pirates from behind me slashed at my back with a sword and my legs buckled a bit. A sharp pain raced through my body and I threw up a mixture of blood and black slime. That only proved to make me angrier. I immediately spun around and let out a shout as a blast of white light fired from my chest and disintegrated everything in its path. Next thing I knew I heard a blast from behind me. It startled me at first and when I turned around I saw a mare. She was wearing a leather skirt and cloth shirt with a lightning bolt on it. She had a red bandana covering one eye and the other eye was a crystal green. She had brown fur with white spots near her hooves and face. She had golden blonde hair that looked very silky and smooth for a pirate mare. In her hoof she held...an pistol. It was a very old fashioned flintlock repeater pistol with smoke seaming from the barrel.

" aye... What's this hogwash doing on me ship?" She said. She had a pirate sounding voice... But it was frightening but calm as well. " ye got five seconds to git of me ship... I'll shoot more holes in ya than ye put in my ship."

" you wouldn't happen to be captain lightning red hoof... Would yah?" I asked.

" aye... And your wrecking my ship with your fanciful magic and such." He said.

" all I needed to know." I said under my own voice. In a puff of smoke I teleported and appeared right in front of her. I tried to take her by surprise but she was remarkably quick... Dredd didn't lie. She jetted backwards and out of nowhere she pulled out a knife and sliced my face. I let out a grunt of pain and glared back at her. She had a knife in her teeth with my blood on it. Se sort of growled at me. I tried shooting up a few tentacles to grab her but she dodged every one of them. I was getting very tired of this and summoned all my strength and focused it on my speed. She was a good fifteen feet away from me... But in a split second I shot forward like a bullet at her and clashed my head into hers. She flew backwards off the bridge of the ship and landed on the deck. She hit the ground and was out cold. I thought for a second that I had killed her, but her energy was still giving off a strong signal, so she was fine. I jumped down and grabbed her. Interested, I took her belt with her pistol holster and decided to keep it, been a while since I used something like this.

I tossed the captain over my back right after I strapped her holster to my armor and it immediately changed to suit my own aura and armor, becoming part of my ensemble now. I spread my wings and took off in the air towards the oceans fury. I flew over in a matter of seconds and landed on the deck. I tossed the unconscious captain lightning onto the deck of the ship and closed my wings. The bolt was now almost halfway submerged in the water, along with its almost all dead crew. Some of the other pirates abandoned their ship and were swimming over to our ship now hoping for a merciful surrender. Others who though they might be able to make the swim started to make the journey over to the thunder wave, which was much closer than it was before. Hopefully they'll scare some sense into the other crew, drop morale.

" well... You sure made quick work of that..." Said twilight walking over. The next thing she noticed was the captain laying unconscious at my hooves. " who the hell is this?" Asked twilight.

" this is the captain of that half sunken ship over there..." I said.

" aye... You got her..." Exclaimed captain dredd from on top of the bridge. "Good get her tied up against the front mast. You two, send a signal to captain thunder that we have his sister." Said dredd signaling two other crew members who had signal flags with them. They got right to flagging down the other ship repeating the same message. I handed the captain off to two other ponies who quickly grabbed some spare rope and did a solid job of patting her down for hidden weapons and tying her up. I walked up to the bridge and twilight followed me. When we got up there I saw thunder standing next to dredd.

" that's one down... What's the plan now?" Thunder asked not aware of our presence. Captain dredd looked over to us and so did thunder.

" we've got the girl..." He said. " that will keep thunders cannons off of us."

" so what is the plan?" I asked.

" I need you two..." Dredd muttered pointing to thunder and twilight. "... I need you to put up a shield protecting us from the cannons with your magic." He said.

" I'm not sure if we could keep up a shield against three sets of cannons... We're just two ponies." Said thunder.

" I can help with the shield too..." I said. " I can keep a shield up and do whatever else you need me to do." I said.

" I need you to take down that ship." He said.

" you want me to sink it?" I asked.

" no don't sink it... Kill the crew, cut down the masts, destroy all the cannons, and jam the rotary. I need you to completely immobilize the ship so that we can loot it... That ship is a fortune... And if we can pull this off then everypony on this ship will be able to retire after this voyage... Even you three... You'll get a cut too, and you might need it in stallasia."

" sounds good." Said thunder.

" alright." I said. " I can help keep the shield up and as the first priority I'll get those cannons to stop firing. Then I'll cut down the masts."

" alright. Take a second to get ready. We'll bait them in until their close enough to board, then you strike." He said. We all looked out to the large iron ship growing closer to our small wooden vessel. One of the flag ponies ran up the stairs to the bridge and he had a message.

" captain..." He said at attention.

" what news have you?" Asked dredd.

" captain thunder red hoof has agreed to negotiate for his sister... He's coming over to board."

" alright... Good." He said. " everypony he to to position. Get on those cannons. You three get a shield up." He said pointing to us. " and you..." He said resting his hoof on my shoulder. " try and get onto the ship undetected."

" I can do that." I said smiling. " next time you see me the thunder wave will be a broken husk." I said before concentrating my energy and vanishing. Dredd blinked a bit in disbelief and then just smiled and carried on his own way. I lurked around the ship completely invisible. I was pretty much a ghost right now. I didn't make noise, I couldn't be seen, and I could pass right through walls. All the crew got to their stations while twilight and thunder discretely put up a shield around the ship. It remained invisible and I crept around and found a good position. I focused my energy too and added a great amount of energy into the shield, which will keep it up no matter how many cannons they fire at it.

The thunder wave was almost next to us now... And it was huge. The large vessel towered over our own and I could see the captain thunder red hoof standing on the edge. He wore a dark leather pirate hat which was hiding his dark and dirty hair. He had the same coat as his sister. Light brown with white patches around the face and hooves. He wore a belt with dual repeaters on either side as well as a very heavy looking broadsword which was scratched and banged up. His sword has obviously seen battle. His eyes were green like his sisters and he...was...HUGE. He was at least a foot and a half taller than most ponies. Even taller than Big Mac. He had the most disgusting layering of muscle I've ever seen on a living creature. He looked like he could pick up the ship he was sailing on.

He was snarling at us as the ship closed in. Once it pulled up to the side I saw a few of his own crew members grab a wooden plank and connect the two ships. The plank did prop up with a bit of a slop but it stayed and captain thunder soon walked down the plank grinning. I thought the wooden plank connecting the two ships was going to break under him. He walked down the plank and up onto our ship. He walked right up to captain dredd and they both stared each other in the eyes.

" argh... Captain dredd." He snarled with a very gritty and deep voice.

" captain thunder." Replied dredd.

" where's me sister?" Captain thunder snapped.

" now don't you worry about her... We got her tied up all safe like... Now, about these negotiations." Said dredd. I took that as a signal and crept my way over to the wooden plank, silently. I crossed over and boarded the thunder wave. I looked around and there were crew members everywhere. I crouched, ready to pounce and invisible tentacles, sharp as a sword, sprouted form my back. I was ready to go on the hunt. I quietly crept around and thought about now I would go about this. I thought about doing it secretly and quietly. Then I thought 'fuck that.' And I picked up a cannon right next to me with my tentacles and threw it. Seeing the cannon rise shocked all the crew member watching, then when I threw it and it tore through one of the masts and killed three members, the whole ship was in shock.

" argh... What was that?" Asked thunder red hoof. " ye traitorous dog... We had a deal... CREW, FIRE THE CANNONS!" Yelled the captain as he drew his sword and got ready to fight. On command there was a demonically thundering sound as all three sets of the ships cannons, minus one, fired at our ship. The shield held. The cannon balls tore through the short distance quickly only to shatter against the brightly glowing shield which had now become visible. Some of the crew members on this ship grabbed swords, a rope, and swung over. It was an all out battle now. They landed on the deck of the oceans fury and war broke out. The cannons on the thunder wave were getting ready to fire again, but I was well at work.

I picked up four more cannons and whipped them in all directions. I chucked one through the captains quarters and then used one to take out another mast. I decided to I cloak myself and I shone with a bright light that soon turned to darkness. The crew on this ship froze in place upon seeing me. Needless to say, they didn't put up much of a fight... It was a slaughter. I started grabbing ponies with my tentacles and tore them apart. I skewered others and ripped open a few others too. I smashed the ground underneath me and fell to the second level of the ship. I made quick work of this level too.

I started grabbing cannons and tossed them everywhere. Most of them blew out of the sides of the ship and others I just tossed elsewhere. Any of the crew members in the area where viscously slaughtered. I tore through them like scissors through paper. They tried to fight back... But none of them could get close. Then I did the same for the last level of the ship. There were crew members down here too, and also tons of loot. There were piles and chests of gold and trade goods. I made quick work of the cannons and I was careful not to break through the walls so I don't sink the ship. Once that was done I went after the rest of the crew... But there wasn't much left of it. Any crew members I did find were scared shitless and hid in a corner... I spared them. When dredd lots this ship, he'll take care of them.

I dashed all the way up to the deck of the ship and looked down at the oceans fury. There was an all out battle. Dredd and captain thunder were at it like dogs, but I could feel that dredd was no match for captain thunder. Twilight and thunder rush were busy blasting other pirates away with magic, but our ship was swarming with captain thunders crew now. I looked over at twilight who was blasting away at one pirate when a different one grabbed her from behind and threw her to the ground. The pirate had his back turned to me... Unlucky for him. Twilight glanced at him in fear and when her eyes grazed over me... She didn't feel afraid anymore. She didn't have to... I leapt from the thunder wave and crossed the gap between the two ships. And I landed on the oceans fury. More specifically I landed right on top of the pony looming over twilight. He was crushed between me and the ship and the air filled with a sickening crunch as his spine snapped underneath my hooves.

I lashed out my tentacles at the other members of thunders crew and grabbed them by the waist or neck. I geared up a bit and threw them off into the ocean. I went through the deck passing by ponies trying to get to dread who I could feel wasn't fairing well in his fight. I came up to the bridge, and instead of taking the stairs I just jumped right up onto the deck. As I leapt into the air I could see dredd and thunder with their swords pressed up against each other. Thunder was almost crushing dredd to death. I soared over to thunder and planted my back hooves on his side and kicked him off of captain dredd. He tumbled over to the other side of the bridge. I pulled out my shining sword of light and held it tight in my jaw. My dark armor and glow soon turned light and I glowed brightly.

" arghh... What kind of demonic magic is this?" Asked thunder getting up and clutching his sword in his teeth. He dashed at me and swung his sword at me. I blocked with my own sword. His strike pushed me back a foot or so but I lashed out to and swiped my sword at him. He dodged and struck at me. We exchanged blows for a good few minutes. He went to strike at me again and I blocked the blow. Just as a show of bad luck an rift of pain washed over me and I dropped my sword and threw up a pool of blood and slime again. Thunder took this as a sign and charged me. He's wound his sword at me and it stuck me on the side of the chest. My armor kept the sword from cutting through but the force sent me flying over the side of the bridge and I fell down to the deck below which was now cleared of thunders crew. They had either been captured, killed, or thrown overboard. It figures that the others had been watching me for a while now.

I landed and hit the deck and let out a grunt of pain from the impact. The impact caused another wave of pain to wash over me and as I staggered to my hooves the pain hit me and I threw up a pile of blood and then buckled back down into my own blood. Thunder jumped from the bridge and landed behind me with a thundering crash, he almost broke through the deck. I tried crawling forward to help get on my hooves again but thunder looked over me with his sword held up high ready to strike. He swung his sword down... And there was a clash. Next to thunder was captain dredd with his sword in his mouth and he pulled his sword away from thunder and slashed at his side. Captain thunder let out a cry of pain and growled. He slashed his sword with enough strength to knock the sword out of dredds mouth. Captain thunder got ready to strike down dredd... But suddenly our own thunder rush dashed in and tackled captain thunder. He grabbed dredds sword from the ground and held it in his jaw ready to fight captain thunder.

Thunder rushes tackle wasn't enough to throw captain thunder to the ground, but it did send him staggering back. Thunder rush swiftly dashed over and started swinging his sword at captain thunder. Captain thunder blocked every swing, and when the opportunity arose he took his chance. Thunder rush attacked with an uppercut and captain thunder dodged it. While Derek was wide open thunder tilted his head down and charged in on Derek. He bashed Derek with a tackle of his own and Derek went flying. Thunder walked over to Derek with his sword up high but he was interrupted again by twilight. Twilight shot a blast of magic at captain thunder and it hit him on the side of his face and he yelled out in pain. The blast had burned him and the left side of his face was now blackened. Derek stared at twilight as he laid on the ground in pain. Dredd wasn't doing much better, he was still tired from fighting thunder before.

Twilight now had thunders full attention and he started to slowly walk over to her. Worried for her I tried getting up but pain was constantly rushing through my body and I threw up another pile of blood and slime. Each time I kept falling back down on the floor. Twilight fired another blast of magic at thunder but he blocked it with the blade of his sword. The hatred in his eyes was immense. Twilight fired blast after blast but it was doing her no good. The rest of the crew watched horror knowing that they would easily be slain by captain thunder. Twilight tripped over a coil of rope and her eyes shrunk as she fell backwards. Thunder waved up to her and held his sword up high ready to strike her down. This time there was nopony to stop him from making the strike.

"NO!" I shouted focusing a mass of energy to fight through the pain. I vanished in a puff of smoke and immediately reappeared right I front of twilight just as thunder trusted his sword forwards. I stood over twilight on my back hooves with my front hooves opened up. Captain thunders sword did make a strike... But it struck me. His sword stabbed right through me. The tip of the blade entered my chest and sunk forward until it prodded out of my back, just below my wings. The sword had sunk into my chest and the handle of the blade was only a half a foot away from my chest. I grunted in pain and my eyes widened slightly. I sputtered and coughed as blood had already begun to flood into my mouth and start spilling out. I felt myself growing weak now.

Twilight stared at me in horror and kept eyeing the sword sticking out of my back. Some of my blood had sprayed onto her and the deck around. The crew and even captain dredd stared in horror. But in one last ditch effort I summoned whatever strength I had left. I out of the deck shot a spike of bright light that tore right through captain thunder. He grunted in pain and his he stared at me with fear in his eyes now. I just glared at him as blood started running down the spike and out of his mouth. The spike receded and a pool of blood spilled out from under his stomach. The grip on his sword loosened and he let go of it and fell slowly to the side and hit the deck stone cold. His eyes pointed forward endlessly staring into the vast ocean and a puddle of blood started pooling around him, dripping through the cracks of the wooden deck.

It wasn't long until I myself fell to my knees and then slowly leaned towards my right before falling and hitting the ground opposite from captain thunder. It didn't take long for my own pool of blood to start pooling around my chest and a smaller puddle of formed form the blood dripping out of my mouth. Everything was silent for a while, and it felt like everything had been silent forever. Then there was noise. The rowdy crew scrambling over to me and twilight. Some of the crew members went to go help up captain dredd and thunder who then rushed over here. Twilights face was the first on I recognized as she leaned over me with her hooves resting on my side and her face was worried. She knew well enough that this wouldn't keep me down forever... But I know she doesn't like to see me suffer.

That's another downside to immortality. You have to get used to the unbearable pain of death. You may be able to die a thousand times and keep living. But that means your loved ones have to watch you die a thousand times, and that's a horrible thing to see. I was slowly fading away now but twilight shook me and yelled at me to stay with her. I tried my best but her voice was muffled and I couldn't make out the words. Everything became blurry and bright. Dredd and thunder rush joined soon after and they huddled around me. Thunder and twilight knew more than well enough that I would be fine. But dredd was already in mourning.

Thunder placed his hoof on my shoulder and said something close to my face, but I couldn't make sense of it. It just sounded like a bunch of murmurs and moans. Next thing I knew twilight and dredd held me down and Derek started pulling the sword out of my chest. It started to slowly ease out of me causing me to wince In pain. After a second of it slowly easing out it came loose and just slid right out forcing Derek to fall backwards and letting more blood to spill from my wound. The jolt of pain actually did cause me to become more aware for a second. But then that second became five seconds. Strangely I was fully aware now and the pain was subsiding. It didn't take me long to realize that this wound, infant wasn't going to kill me. The blade needed to be removed so that my body can start repairing the hole.

" crimson... C'mon crimson answer me." Said twilight looking at me worryingly. " can you hear me?" She asked.

" ughh... T-twilight..." I said.

" yeah... What crimson... What do your ant to say?" She asked frantically. Dredd looked at me with some kind of mixture of remorse and mourning, but there was a strange park of hope inside of him. " crimson what is it?" Asked twilight again.

" that... That really hurt." I said smiling. She smiled too and giggled a bit before leaning her head against my side and hugging me.

" oh I thought we were going to loose you." She said. She and thunder smiled. Dredd and some of his crew had astonished faces with wide eyes. They were probably wondering how in the world I had just survived that. The crew members that weren't staring at me were already celebrating my good...ish... Health.

" I thought I was a goner too." I said.

" c'mon..." Said thunder rush sitting next to me. " we should get you to a bed so you can rest." He said. I smiled at him and he and twilight lit up their horns. They picked me up with their magic and started to carry me off like I was on a magical gurney. They brought me to the lower deck and over to the crews quarters. They rested me on one of the beds that dredd had given us and the crew had followed. Dredd walked over to the side of the bed and smiled at me.

" that was some very impressive work... And a true act of bravery and selflessness if I've ever seen one." He said. " I see that I was wrong about you... You three are more than I expected."

" thank you..." I said. " so what are you going to do now?" I asked.

" well... Me and the crew are going to loot that ship dry... Then were going to celebrate." He said speaking out loud so the crew could hear. All the sea ponies started cheering and smiling. They all huddled out of the cabin and rushed to go and loot the other ship. Captain dredd was the last to leave the room. As he passed through the doors he glanced back at me and smiled before going. Now it was just me, twilight and Derek. They were both smiling at me while I laid on the bed. The bleeding had stopped but there was still a gaping hole in my chest. I felt faint and dizzy, and it was difficult to take deep breaths.

" once again..." Said thunder. " you've saved the day... Good job..." He said in a upbeat tone as he nudged me on the shoulder.

" hey... You did pretty good too." I said. " captain thunder was one tough pony... You stood up to him pretty time though... Don't over extend that uppercut." I muttered smiling at Derek.

" I'll try not to." He said.

" and speaking of which... How are you doing... You took quite the hit." I said checking on my friend.

" well... I can't say I'm worse off than you right now..." He said smiling. " I'll be fine. He just knocked the wind out of me... Sprained my back hoof a bit... But it still works. Nothing to complain about."

" good..." I said.

" yeah..." Muttered thunder. " you rest up and get better... I'll go and help the others Cary stuff over from that other ship." He said gesturing out the door and turning around. I just smiled and said by as he left to door. As he walked by he closed the door behind him and walked off. I could already hear the sound of ponies above us carrying things all around the ship.

" thanks crimson." Said twilight with her hoof on my upper chest above the wound. " you saved me ... Again." I smiled and chuckled a bit. My voice was a bit coarse and raspy.

" hey... You know I wouldn't let you get hurt." I said placing my hoof on her shoulder. " I'll always be watching over you..." I said.

" I know..." She said. " I knew you stop captain thunder before he killed me... But next time, try not to get yourself killed." She said placing her other hoof on my hoof which was resting on her shoulder. " I know that you will always be fine, but I don't like watching you get hurt... Sometimes I forget that your immortal."

" heh... I forget too." I said smiling. She held my hoof and picket it up. She placed by hoof back on my chest replacing her other hoof. She rested both of her hooves on my one hoof and smiled.

" I'm going to go help." Said twilight. "You stay here and rest... I'll come get you when they start the party. I'm sure everypony will want you to be there." She said smiling.

" alright... You go along, I'll be fine here." I said. She patted my hoof and stood back up. She flashed me one more smile before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her. I smiled still and rested my head down and closed my eyes. Soon the world around me began to fade and I slipped away into a deep, and peaceful slumber. My peaceful sleep wouldn't last more than a few minutes at least, It only felt like a few minutes to me before the door to the room cracked open. Footsteps filled the room and grew closer to me. I could feel a presence near the bed, but I was still mostly asleep. Next thing I knew I felt something or somepony crawl on top of me. There was a large weight on my stomach now like somepony was sitting on it. I was starting to come back and the next thing I heard was a faint click.

I opened my eyes and I was now staring down the barrel of a six shooting revolver. This sight immediately jolted me to life and my eyes shrunk a bit. Past the barrel of the gun I saw a pony with blonde hair, green eyes, and an eye patch. It was lightning red hoof staring at me with hatred in her eyes. She looked like she was ready to bark at me, like a dog. She pulled the revolver back a smidgen so she could look into my eyes but she still kept it aimed at my head. She was sitting down on my lap with the door to the room blocked off and barricaded. She reached her other hoof over and pulled the hammer back on the gun, ready to fire. I waited and thought she was just going to shoot me on the spot... But she didn't.

" you..." She said. " you killed my brother... I watched the whole thing. Lets see your fancy witchcraft get you out of this one."

"H-how did you escape?" I asked.

" I always keep a trick up me sleeve." She said sliding a knife out of her front hoof sleeve and sliding it back in. " but a better question, is how did you not die, when my brother did?" Se asked pushing the gun into my still open wound. I grunted in pain as she twisted the barrel of the gun in my open wound. She pulled it out and pointed it back at my head. " I watched that sword cut right through you... Why aren't you dead?"

" because..." I said. " I didn't feel like dying... So I didn't." She growled at me and smacked the side of my head with her gun. I let out a grunt of pain and looked back at her.

" tell me..." She said pointing the gun back at me. I just glared at her for a short time before she grew impatient. She slid a small throwing dagger out from her sleeve and jabbed it into the side of my leg. I let out a fierce grunt of pain and she pointed the gun back at me. " you sunk my ship, massacred my crew, and killed my brother... While those buffoons are busy pissing on me brothers ship, I'll be sure you suffer." She said grabbing the small knife in my flank and ripping it out. She held it up and trusted it deep into the side of my stomach now. I let out a long winded grunt of pain and grit my teeth.

After my grunt of pain I started to laugh actually. I thought it was funny how she thought she had control over me now. Having a gun pointed to my head isn't as scary as most ponies would see it. She raised her eyebrow and grit her teeth at me as I let out a few more chuckles. I'm not sure why, whether it was the pain, my current anger towards her, or the fact that it was so pathetic. It might have been all three. After I was done laughing I stared her right in the eyes with what I had dubbed, my death stare. It's a stare with a combination of hatred, rage, confidence, and determination. All tied together with a solid plan and the power and ability to survive. It was probably more threatening to look at than the barrel of her gun.

" what the hell are ye laughing about..." She said. " don't you make that face at me." She said pointing the gun right up to my head now pressing it up against my forehead. " I'll paint the walls with yer brains."

" do it..." I said.

" wait... What?" She said taken back slightly as I still gave her my death stare. She pulled the gun back an inch or two and was leaning back slightly now.

"do it..." I repeated. " shoot me... Right in the skull... Go ahead... Paint my brains over the walls... I dare you."

" fine then... You asked for it." She said. Without any remorse she squeezed the trigger and the whole ship rung with a loud bang as a spark lit from the hammer of the gun and the gun fired. The bullet rocketed out of the gun and passed through my skull then my brain, then back out of my skull. Pain rocketed through my body and I fell limp. She sat there for a second with her smoking gun before reholstering it and climbing off of me. She knew the others would have heard that, and they'll be on her any second now. She walked over to the door which she had barricaded with some of the beds. She went to go to move the beds but couldn't get them to budge. " what the... What is this..." She said pushing up against the beds.

" this... My dear red hoof... Is what I like to call, the perfect trap." I said. The sound of my voice made her freeze in place like a statue. I slowly rose up from the place where I should have died and stretched out my limbs. Just like that time our group was ambushed by bandits and I took an arrow to the head... A bullet is none less the same. I crawled out of the bed and stood up on all fours. The hole in my head was already closing up now, but my mind was a bit boggled. " surprised to hear my voice... I bet you are." I said.

"H-h-how... How did that not kill you." She said in a very scared voice now. " I shot you in the head." She added not even turning to look at me. I remained silent and she slowly turned around and looked at me. Her scared feelings were matched by her angry looking face. Her eyes were filled with hatred, like she was mad at me for not dying... I can't blame her given her current point of view. " your some kind of demon... Aren't you." She said. " your here to torment the wicked and send our souls to hell... You the devils advocate."

" not quite... On fact far from it." I said mp rested with her response. " I'm a keeper of peace... Your brother deserved what was coming to him, and while you might too, I'm not going to kill you."

" you lie..." She said backing up against the beds. She didn't even give her repeater a chance.

" no I don't... I'm not going to kill you." I said.

" I don't believe you." She said.

" believe what you want..." I said as large tentacles of dark magic shot from my back. " but your coming with me." I lashed out the tentacles and they wrapped themselves around lightning red hoof. I tied her up with the tentacles and put one over her mouth to keep her form talking. I used my magic to levitate the beds back into place and I then opened the door. I walked out into the lower deck to see that there weren't any ponies out here... That explains how she got out. I let out a deep sigh and started walking forward with lightning thrashing around in her cocoon of darkness and trying to let out cries that only managed to get muffled by the tentacle around her mouth.

I started making my way up to the top of the ship and climbed up step by step. As I approached the deck of the ship, there were piles of gold and treasure and other trade goods just piled up along the entire deck of the ship. Lightning struggled a bit more after seeing the others looting her ship. There were other crew members carrying boxes and barrels onto the ship and going back to get more. Once I was fully on deck the others started to notice me and they just stared as I carried lightning around with me. I carried her off to the other ship where I could see captain dredd giving out orders to his crew. I walked up to the ship and as he looked over his face was washed over with shock and confusion as he saw me.

" aye... Lad... What do you think your doing with her?" He said as I walked over.

" did you know that your prisoner here escaped?" I asked.

" she... She what." He said be founded by my claim. Out of the side of my eye I noticed twilight levitating some boxes as she was just walking up out of the deck. She placed them down and rushed over.

" your prisoner here escaped." I said shaking the tied up lightning for emphasis.

" how did she do that?" Asked twilight joining the conversation and seeming quite discontent.

" she had a few tricks up her sleeve." I said. " while everypony was out here looting the ship, she crept down to the cabin and shot me in the head." I added with more feeling than before.

"She shot you... In the head?" Questioned the captain. " don't lie to me boy." He said. I rolled my eyes and brought my hoof up to my head to show him. It wasn't fully healed yet, it was still a bit of a hole, I had to brush away my long hair to show him the hole in my skull. And if to add to the effect I was bleeding from my head too, so I had blood traveling down my face in little streams as well as blood leaking out from my stomach and my flank from when she stabbed me. There was actually a little trail of blood spots that lead up to me.

" I'm not a liar..." I said. " and I'm no boy... I understand why you might not believe me... But I'm a bit angry right now... As you can see. This broad just shot me in the head..." I uttered leaning in closer to captain dredd. I let go of lightning who fell to the ground still wrapped up in black magic.

" crimson... Are you alright?" Asked twilight shocked to hear this. Captain dredd was a bit confused and very startled to see proof positive that I was actually shot through the head.

" yeah twilight... I'm fine... Just a bit angry right now." I said.

" maybe you should go cool down." Twilight suggested. It was a pretty good idea, I could use a break right now.

" I think your right twilight... I need to go cool down." I said looking out to the vast ocean. " and I know just how to do that." I said walking down to the other ship. Twilight followed me as well did captain dredd. Twilight was levitating the boxes she had before with her and she placed them down o. The deck of the ship. I walked over to the bow of the ship and sat down on the edge with my back to the ocean.

" is this what you need...?" Asked twilight. " you just need to sit down for a minute."

" no..." I said. " I'm going to go for a relaxing swim."

" a-a swim...?" Muttered dredd. " this ship ain't stopping just for you... No matter who you are..." He said.

" that's fine... I'll be back later." I said leaning back. I fell backwards off the side of the ship and twilight and dredd looked over the side and watched me fall. I just let myself fall and soon I hit the water and my whole body was washed over with the cold ocean water as everything dimmed and the world around me turned blue. I took a deep breath and it was like breathing in air, except underwater. I kept my eyes open, despite this being a salt water ocean. It didn't seem like it, it felt like just swimming in fresh water.

I let myself start to sink deeper and deeper in the water and closed my eyes thinking it would never end. I was already starting to relax and I took slow, deep breaths. This was a trick that aquianas had shown me. To let

The water pass through you and let yourself become as calm as the ocean. I kept drifting down to the bottom of the sea and felt the water waving through my hair and my tail, felt it pushing and brushing past my fur coat. When I opened my eyes I was in some sort of reef. It was bright and full of color.

The reef was glowing with energy and hundreds of fish and sea creatures of all kinds swam around in schools or alone. My eyes were bombarded with colors that I don't even have names for. The bright coral along the rocky bottom with twisting hills and caves. Schools of brightly colored fish swam by as well as other large sea creatures. Octopi, sharks, eels, manta rays, there was even a large blue whale slowly but majestically passing by. I finally touched the bottom of the sea and sunk into a deep bed of sea grass. It moves and swayed with the soft ocean current and it brushed against my back and sides. As I looked up I could see that even from this deep down the sun could still shine on this wonderful place.

I stood up and started to walk along the ocean bed and looked around. I took in all the beautiful sights and saw things I've never seen before. Everything down here was so peaceful. The water was cool and refreshing, the scenery was amazing, and everything was soothing and calm. Not even the sharks ruined the peace. Fish swam past them despite them being sharks. Various mollusk s and crustaceans scurried and stuck to the ocean floor. Starfish stuck to different rocks and scattered about, shrimp and small fish traveling around in large schools. They even swam around me and passed by me despite me being completely new to them.

I continued to walk along the ocean floor while the ship sailed far, far ahead of me. I didn't care, it was good to get away from my troubles for a while. I crawled over one of the rocky hills and maneuvered my way around a coral forest. I reached what seemed like the highest point of the whole reef. I looked out over the entire reef and smiled. I spread my wings slowly and started using them to swim about. I had been down here for more than an hour now, well over an hour actually. I flapped my wings once and torpedoed through the ocean. I knew where the ship was... It was just about a mile away from me. I tore through the clear ocean water after the ship at incredible speeds. It wasn't much longer than two minutes that I noticed the underside of the ship sailing forward. I shot forward and swam up to the side of the ship.

I swam up closer an closer and breached the surface of the water. It was now dusk and the sun was setting behind the large ocean setting it ablaze with orange light. I took a deep breath of fresh sea air and smiled. I flapped my wings again and rose up from the water making the transits from swimming to flying. I floated through the air following close to the ship as water dripped from my body. My coat was matted down and my main and tail were soaked completely. I flapped my wings to dry them a little and started my way up the side of the ship. I soared up and over the port side and landed on the deck f the ship. There was nopony around on the deck... Except for a lone twilight who was sitting at the very bow of the ship. I started making my way over to her and she must have heard my hoofsteps.

" have a good swim?" She asked turning around to see me with a smile spread across her face. Her smile made me smile as well and I soon sat down next to her looking towards the setting sun.

" it was very relaxing..." I said. " the bottom of the ocean is a very beautiful place."

" so are you all calmed down now?" She asked.

" yeah... I'm all better now." I said.

" the swim even healed your wound..." She said pointing out the wound on my chest. Instead of the gaping hole it was it was now just a deep cut in my chest.

" yeah... I guess I was more relaxed than I thought." I said. I quickly looked back around the deck of the ship and confirmed there was absolutely nopony else on the deck. " so... Where is everypony else?" I asked.

" down in the lower deck celebrating." Said twilight.

" why aren't you down there with them?" I asked.

" I've been waiting for you..." She said. " I wanted us to watch the sunset together." She said smiling.

" uhh... Okay... Sure twilight." I said. " I'll watch the sunset with you." I said turning to look at the sunset. The sun was already halfway gone and the sky was a bright vibrant red with glowing clouds. The darkness of night followed behind us with purple skies and faint stars twinkling off in space. The sea was a vivid orange and the waves made the orange sparkle and flicker like fire. I sat there watching the sunset with undecided attention. Twilight sat and watched too with a smile across her face still. My concentration on the sunset was broken when twilight leaned up agains me and rested her head on my shoulder. For a split second my mind snapped back to a different time. A time when me and rainbow dash would sit on the clouds or in a nice tall tree in the park and watch the sunset. She would hold my hoof and lean against me. Her wings would flutter slightly and we would place our wings over each others.

Twilight kept up against me and she slowly slid her hoof over until it was resting up against my own now. The strong sea breeze blew my hair away from the both of us. The wind pushed twilight bangs against me and the wind made our coats ripple and sway in the wind. The sun was now winding down to the last few inches and the purple and red skies were slowly being washed over by the dark of night. I took in of the moist sea air and let out a deep relaxing sigh. The sun inched closer and closer until it was now fully engulfed in the sea and the dark of night had completely covered the world around us. The fire like ocean was now extinguished and as dark as coal and the night sky was black and bare. But almost like magic a wave of cosmic beauty swept over the sky and stars burst out from the dark cover of night. The moon sat in the air and I seemed to be three times larger than it normally is. Star clouds floated in the dark sky and clusters of white twinkling stars scattered across the sky. Waves of green and blue washed across the sky lighting up the world they watched over.

"Wow..." Said twilight softly still leaning against me and looking up at the sky. She slowly leaned off me to get a better view of the sky. " it's beautiful..." She said.

" hey... There you two are." Said a familiar voice behind us. We botch shot our heads back to see thunder standing near the stairs to the main deck. " come down below... Your missing the party." He said. I smiled and rolled my eyes. Thunder went back down below the deck which was glowing with light.

" c'mon..." Said twilight standing up. " let's go join the others." I smiled and stood up next to her and started walking with her to the stairs. We talked over to the stairs and made our way down into the lower deck. It was flooded with crew members drinking and having fun. Amongst the crowd of ponies stood captain dredd. He looked over to us and smiled.

" argh..." He said out loud catching everyponies attention. " there be the salty sea dog that saved our lives, saved the ship, and made us rich." Now everypony was looking over and smiling. " let's hear it for crimson blast, hero of the east."

"AYE!" Shouted every pony on the ship as they raised their bottles in the air and smiled. They soon got back to mingling and they all made small groups and told jokes and stories. Dredd walked over and so did thunder.

" hope you cleared you head out..." Said dredd.

" I did..." I replied. " I feel much better now... But what's with the whole hero of the east thing?" I asked raising and eyebrow with my smile.

" aye... That's what you are..." He said. " you're friends here told me your stories. I always knew about the hero of the east... Not his actual name... But I had my suspicions when I first saw you in action... But to have the real hero on my ship... Now that's a story to tell."

" I'm always surprised to see how famous I am..." I said. " I never really thought my name would carry much weight so far out of Equestria."

" well if ye don't want to be so famous then you should try not to save the day everywhere you go." He said.

" that's true I guess..." I replied.

" here crimson... Have a drink." Said thunder handing me an open bottle of beer. It was a rather larger bottle for most beers. I grabbed it regardless and took a large swig. I drank the beer despite the fact that I'm never going to get drunk from it.

" are you sure you should be drinking that with how sick you've been lately?" Asked twilight worryingly.

" I think I'll be fine." I said.

" yeah... I haven't seen you throw up a pool of blood and strange black slime in a while..." Said thunder.

" I don't think it's out of my system quite just yet... But I think I'm getting better."

" then lets toast..." Said captain dredd out loud again catching everyponies attention. He held his bottle up hi and smiled. "To health and happiness... Until the end... We carry on." The whole ship roared with a cheer and even I put my bottle up in the air and we all drank. Theatre went on for the longest time. It wasn't till much later at night that everypony had finished their drinks and had grown tired. They all went to bed, even twilight, thunder and captain dredd. I, however, stayed below the deck. I rested in one of the hammocks set up around the lower deck. There wasn't anypony else down here but me now. I sat there gently swaying back and forth in the little hammock. I held an almost empty bottle of rum in my hoof and stared out the port side window sitting right next to my little hammock.

The sky was still the same as it was after the sunset. Stars everywhere and vivid blue and green streaks ran across the sky. I put the rim of the bottle to my lips and took a large chug of the bittersweet rum. The only thing on my mind right now was rainbow dash. I wasn't concerned on saving her... I know that I will save her, no matter the consequences... But I'm worried about how our lives will carry on after this whole ordeal. It's been so long now... And we're not even at the portal to one of the other dimensions we have to cross through. I'm not even sure how long it will take to find the other portals in the different dimensions... I don't even know how many dimensions I have to cross.

I placed the rim of the bottle to my lip again and finished off the rest of the bottle. I looked at the bottle surprised that it was empty then I shrugged and set it down on the ground. I laid in the hammock on my back with my hooves covering my stomach. I closed my eyes and slowly started to drift away. Even when I was dreaming I was thinking about how my life would change... Or... I should say, how it has already changed. The only question I have now... The only one I've ever had that can never be answered is...why? How does something like this happen to a normal pony like me? I wasn't even a pony for the most time. I used to be human... And then I lost everything.

Even when I was human I knew I was more special than most people. I was an elite soldier with years of advanced training. Then when I became a pony I was just a regular pony. My face wouldn't stick out in a single picture, but now my face would be the only thing others see in a picture. How does somepony like me just become a god? One other thing troubling me was what death had told me in one of our lessons. He told me that one of my friends was going to die... And there was nothing I could do to stop it... Unless I concentrate. Ughh... My head is starting to hurt now. No matter how worried I am I can never bring myself to tell my friends. Even being who I am I still have questions... Ones that can't be answered.

Why can't things ever be easy?...


	42. Chapter 42: Land Ho!

Not much Time passed since the battle between our crew and the red hoof twins. With thunder red hoof slain and his sister captured and tightly held up in the brig, as well as their ships being looted, we sailed forward with our fortune. It had been a week since that, and today would be the day we finally set hoof in stallasia. A strange new world with different customs and different ponies. From that point onward we suffered no more problems. But in the timespan of that one week my sickness which I thought was going away, only proved to worsen. I became sick even more and more and would throw up more frequently, so I always kept towards the side of the ship. Instead of a tense pain in my stomach every time now my vision faded and I became dizzy and numb with every attack. The episodes became more intense too, instead of just throwing up once and getting it over with I would suffer for minutes at a time before it faded.

It was midday... There were few clouds in the sky, the sun was shining, and there was a soft breeze. The sound of seagulls filled the air and the ship was only miles away now from stallasia. The huge continent was now in view as just a small line of land across a seemingly vast ocean. It didn't look like we were getting any closer to it, but we were making good speed since the wind was in our favor. The navigator said that at our speed we would reach the dock within two hours... That was an hour ago. So we were one hour down and growing ever closer to the continent. To be honest... I was nervous. I heard the distinctive sound of familiar hoofsteps from behind me and soon enough twilight walked over and sat down next to me at the bow of the ship.

The wind blew my hair back and cooled us down. It was a very hot day today, I've been thirsty all day. Just looking at the shimmering sea now was making me thirstiest. The blue water rippled and sparkled in the morning light as the ship we rode tore through it and parted the waves. Twilight, who was sitting next to me, didn't say anything. No hello or how are you... She just remained silent, stared straight ahead and smiled. I looked onward with a blank face and kept my eyes fixed on the small strip of the continent. The only thing that gave it away as being stallasia was that the land spread over the whole sea and straight ahead of us we could see a large mountain range with a specifically large mountain prodding out of the world. I took in a deep breath of the salty sea air and let out a deep sigh.

" excited?" Asked twilight glancing over to me.

" among other things, yes." Said smirking slightly.

" a bit nervous too?" She added.

" yeah a bit..." I said. " no matter how much I know about the place it doesn't count for anything if I haven't been there once in my life." I said.

" I'm sure we'll be fine." Said twilight. " the map says that our destination isn't too far from the port. We might be able to get to it by tomorrow." She said.

" I would think so... But that's not the end of it." I added.

" yeah... The other dimensions..." Twilight added as the smile faded off her face. " what do you think their like?" She asked.

" I'm not sure..." I said. " they could be anything... There's no way to know for sure what kinds of dimensions we're going to run across."

" well whatever happens... I know that we can make it through." She said smiling. " if know anything about you crimson blast." She said turning and smiling at me. " It's that you won't quit... You'll tear through those dimensions treading lightning."

" thanks twilight..." I said showing a smirk.

We sat there and more time passed. With every passing minute the large continent grew larger and larger. It was just as the navigator said, only an hour later we were there. We were only a a few feet off shore and were just docking into the port. The crew was celebrating the successful trip and the safe voyage. They anchored the ship and tied it down to the dock. We placed the crosswalks down and our little group were first to leave off the ship. I went first followed by twilight, thunder, and captain dredd. I took my first step on the docks and smiled. I made way for the others and they all joined us at the docks while captain dredds crew started getting ready to unload their cargo.

" well... Here we are... Stallasia." Said captain dredd.

" I don't know how we can thank you." I said.

" you don't need to... You've done enough." Said dredd.

" thank you for seeing us through captain." Said twilight.

" not a problem miss twilight." Replied dredd smiling. " now, your welcome to stay one last night on the ship if you can't find an inn or something... Be we leave port tomorrow, we still have some trading to do here."

" thank you, but I think we can survive." I said.

" alright..." He said smiling. " ah... I almost forgot." He exclaimed lighting up. He shook off the loose bags over his back and held them out to me. " this is your share of our loot from the thunder wave." He said holding put the bag. I grabbed it and held it in my hoof, it was heavy. " it's full of gold as well as some water to see you through these hot summer days."

" thank you..." I said slinging the bags over my back and tying them with my magic. They were just ordinary brown cloth saddlebags.

" HELLO THERE VOYAGERS!" Shouted a very strange voice to the side of us. The voice had a strange accent and when we looked over we saw a pony walking over down the docks looking ecstatic and smiling. He was a regular earth pony with brown fur and black hair. His hair was long but was tied back in one long braid and so was his tail. " please... You must be captain dredd, of the oceans fury." He said. His accent sounded like a strange mix of French and Asian.

" ah... You must be the pony were trading with." Said dredd.

" yes... Yes I am..." He said. He walked over and looked at the three of us. " these three don't look like part of your crew." He said pointing to us.

" they're not." Said dredd. " these three are just weary travelers who I've struck a deal with... They're on a quest and needed transportation."

" ah... Welcome then." He said. His chipper tone of voice was very up lifting. Like how hosts would treat tourists.

" I didn't think anypony here would speak equestrian." Said twilight.

" well some of us do..." He said. " this is an international port. There are other towns and cities that speak primarily stallasian." My eyes glanced past him and locked onto the mountain far away from the port. It was charred and black, suggesting it was more of a volcano than a mountain.

" can I ask you a question?" I asked taking the foreign ponies attention.

" sure traveller, whatever you need." He said.

" that mountain over there..." I said pointing to the large mountain. " what can you tell me about it?" I asked.

" oh that's no mountain traveller..." Said the pony. " that would be a volcano... We call it chargargothora."

" chargar...what?" Recited thunder.

" chargargothora." Repeated the pony. " it's named after the stallasian god of fire and blood. It's named so because over one hundred thousand years ago that very volcano erupted with such fury that it burned down the entire east side of stallasia. It has been dormant ever since."

" that sounds horrible." Said twilight.

" yes, I'm just glad I wasn't around when it erupted." He said. " now... Is there anything else you three need?" He asked.

" no... I think we're good." I said.

" wonderful, there are plenty of shops and inns located all over the port town... Enjoy your stay and good luck with whatever quest your on." He said. I just smiled and turned back to dredd.

" well captain. It was an honor... Thank you." I said sticking my hoof out.

" any time adventurer." He said taking my hoof and shaking it well. I smiled and we let go of each other. We turned away and made our way down the port smiling and waving. Dredd waved too and soon enough we were gone. The port was pretty huge and very similar to port dredd, the only thing that had changed are the ponies. By the time we finally got off the docks it had already been five minutes. We took our first steps on foreign soil and looked around. The houses were stone houses that were designed tone very spacious. Like boxes laid on top of boxes.

We walked through the town and a lot of the signs for shops and stores were written in large strange lettering, probably stallasian. At least the signs had equestrian writing on them too for both factions. The stallasian written language seemed like a weird combination of Japanese and Arabic. What's even more strange is that the more I stare at the signs the more I understand them. It's like I'm quickly figuring out the languages seeing from the equestrian and the stallasian writing. But I am still curious to hear this language first hand... Or hoof.

All the ponies we walked by glanced at us but didn't pay us much attention. They all looked similar in some ways. They had different colors of their coats but their hair was primarily dark colored. Their eyes and coats varied in colors and so did their looks. They all had slightly squinted eyes. This is probably the Asian alteration for this world. The streets of the town were quite spacious but there were stalls and stands with various strange new foods lining the streets. Merchants bantering away while customers lined up and looked at their products. Some stalls sold foods, others sold other merchandise like jewelry, weapons, clothing, supplies, even medicine.

Some merchants tried to grab our attention and hold out shiny jewelry and other items for us to look at, but like most greedy merchants the second we walked away or didn't acknowledge them they lost interest and moved on to the next sap. The town was a bit shady and questionable but I didn't see anything wrong at the moment. I looked up to the sky for a brief second and checked the time by looking at the sun. The sun was halfway between the center of the sky and the horizon. It was getting later now, it must be a good while after mid day.

" so crimson... Where are we heading to now?" Asked thunder.

" to that mountain over there..." I said. " well that volcano I should say."

" why...?" Asked twilight questionably worried that she knew what I was going to say.

" because that's were we need to go." I said.

" I was afraid you would say that." Said twilight.

" don't worry... Chances of that thing blowing again are very minuscule... But then again, when it comes to me, if something can go wrong... It will." I said. That statement has been becoming increasingly true with every passing day. " for right now, there isn't much to do, and not enough time in the day to start something..." I said. " we should find an inn, get some food, and then rest up. Tomorrow we can stock up on supplies and we'll leave the next day."

" alright... That sounds fine I guess." Said twilight.

" hey... You three." Said a strange voice suddenly from next to us." We all paused and looked over to the sound of the voice. It was a young mans voice... And it was familiar too. We looked over to a dark, dark alleyway where the sun didn't shine even the slightest.

" who's there?" I asked very curious as to why I know this ponies voice. I could feel an energy there but his figure was shrouded by darkness. As well as the voice, the energy of this pony was strange but familiar.

" so I overheard you three were going to the volcano... That's an interesting place for three ponies out of Equestria to be visiting." Said the pony as he walked out of the shadows and revealed himself. He was wearing a dark black cloth cloak and had his hood pulled up over his eyes. His hair was golden blonde and his coat was black. He was wearing dark steel armor under his cloak. The steel armor was plated and spiked all along his body. The armor didn't look like it was painted black, more like it was so old that it turned a rotten black with age. The pony lifted his head slightly revealing his blue eyes under the hood. Wires and gears rapidly started shifting and turning in my head until something clicked... And I began to chuckle lightly. The hooded pony started to chuckle and smile too.

" I had forgotten you were coming..." I said smiling.

" I thought so... I bet you can't even remember my name." He said smiling too. He walked out of the shadows and took his hood off and let it hang on the back of his neck. Twilight and thunder stared in awkward confusion at me and my old friend.

" actually... No, I can't." I said smiling and he just laughed lightly. " I think it begins with an M."

" well it's a start..." He said. " it's me... Martukus." He said. The face, the energy, and the name all clicked together and the picture in my head was done forming.

" ah... That's right... So why have you decided to just join us now?" I asked.

" well I..." Martukus said before twilight cleared her throat loudly and interrupted him.

" uhm... Crimson... Who the hell is this?" She asked pointing at martukus.

" well as you've already figured, this is martukus..." I said. " he's a friend that I've met a while ago... We first ran into each other at the temple in blackmarsh." I said.

" is he just as much of a freak as you are?" Asked thunder jokingly.

" in more ways than others... Yes." I said, martukus punched my shoulder and sneered at me then returned to a smile.

" I'm boringly normal compared to you... I'm no freak." He said.

" is... Is he immortal too?" Asked twilight in a hushed tone so that the passing ponies around the street wouldn't hear.

" yes he is... " I said smugly. " so I take it you'll be joining us now..." I said returning to martukus.

" yes, sure... Why not." He said. I smiled and we started making our way back through the streets trying to find an inn or something. " so... What's the plan?" He asked.

" well we thought that since there isn't much left to do for today we would find an inn, get some food and sleep until tomorrow." I said. " tomorrow we'll get supplies ready and stock up then head out the next day."

" sounds good to me." He said. We kept our way through the crowded town making turn after turn looking for some kind of inn. So far there wasn't much luck. There were tons of shops. We took a left and luckily we started to get out of the shopping district of the town and moved into a more suburban area. There were lots of housing complexes now and up ahead I saw a sign for an inn. We started heading over and we finally got to the front door. The inn was much nicer than most of the houses here. It was still made of stone, but it was bigger and had lots of windows. I pushed open the door and we walked in. All of the ponies in the inn looked over at us with strange faces. I hadn't really noticed but I was wearing my armor and it was lighting up the inn. Me and martukus looked like opposites. I was wearing plated and spiked armor with a white hood and cape.

" welcome there you four..." Said the innkeeper behind the bar. " can I get you anything?" He asked as we walked over to the bar. We all took a seat at the bar.

" do you have any food here?" Asked thunder.

" sure tons of food... What can I get ya?" He asked. We looked over the menu above the bar and ordered our food. Luckily the board wasn't written in stallasian so we could all read it easily. We ordered our food and sat there waiting for it to arrive. When it finally did we choked down and ordered a few drinks too. " can I get you four anything else?" Asked the innkeeper.

" yeah... Do you have any rooms for rent?" I asked.

" sure." He said. " and just in luck too, last four rooms we got... Unless uh... You don't mind staring a room." He said glancing between me and twilight making her blush slightly.

" uhh.. No we'll take four rooms." I said. " we just need them for two nights."

" two nights... Not staying long huh?" He said walking over to a wall with keys hanging up.

" no... We've got stuff that needs doing." Added martukus.

" where the four of you heading to?" He asked. He held the keys in his hoof and gripped them like he wasn't going to give them to us until we answered him. His face changed to one of pure interest.

" we're off to the volcano." I said.

" the volcano huh... What business have you there?" He asked.

" well... We heard there would be treasure there..." Added thunder. He said it on the spot making up an excuse. It was a good one... But I would liked to have made it up so that it was bullet proof. At least I can back it up as much as I can.

" treasure eh... You four's adventurers ain't ya." He said smiling.

" yeah..." I said.

" well then consider it my honor to have you four stay these next two nights, free of charge." He said smiling.

" free?" Added twilight.

" of course... Free." He said. " in stallasia we treat adventurers like we

Do kings..." He said. " and we don't have many adventurers around here now a days... Stallasia has become a dangerous place."

" what's happening to this place?" Asked martukus.

" ah... Well see a long time ago there was an order of adventurers... It hey just called themselves the guild." He said. " they would go around and plunder lost temples and fight dangerous beasts."

" sounds like what an adventurer would do." I said.

" yes but there were many of them. Their adventurs kept the dark beasts away and their looting and generous nature fueled our economies. But now the guild has shrunk desperately in size." He said seeming glum. " dark and horrible creatures stalk the woods at night and most towns that used to be rich with ponies and excitement have been run to the ground and left for dead to the darkness of night."

" I don't feel any sense of danger here." I said.

" that's because it isn't nightfall." Said the innkeeper. I looked out the window and it was getting late now. Even though it wasn't completely night there were street lights flickering to life everywhere. " in this country we sleep with our lights on, if we know what's good for us." He said. I looked back over and he placed the room keys on the counter. " remember that." He said.

" we will." I said.

" and if you do end up going on your adventure..." He said taking a short pause to look us in the eye before he walked into the back room. " make sure to bring spare lamps and lots of oil... Trust me." With that he turned and walked into the other room. I caught something on him that was mildly disturbing. On the back of his hind legs, which I haven't seen before, he had huge black scars and tears running around his legs. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and started to dry heave slightly. I didn't want to act up in public so I forced it back and placed my head on the counter.

" crimson..." Said martukus looking at me with surprise. " are you alright... What's wrong?" He asked.

" he was poisoned." Said twilight placing a hoof on my back making sure I was alright.

" poisoned... By who?" Asked martukus.

" you know who..." I said turning my head to look martukus right in the eyes. He looked at me and he knew the answer.

" that's not good... We need to get you to a spirit healer." He said.

" a what?" Asked thunder.

" crimson how are you feeling now?" He asked.

" it's been getting better." I said.

" well it fluctuates according to all the dark energy around you... This place is peaceful enough so your shouldn't feel too bad." He said. " but we need to get you to a spirit healer... There's a very famous one in a stallasian city... But it is a bit out of the way."

" can we afford that?" Asked thunder looking at me.

" I don't know..." I said picking my head up. " I'll have to think about it overnight."

" this isn't going to go away unless you are healed." Said martukus.

" I figured that... But I have all the time in the world to get better." I added. " like I said let me think on it."

" we should get you to bed..." Said twilight. " you should rest... We all should." I agreed and thunder grabbed the keys to the rooms. We walked upstairs and got to our rooms. Thunder and martukus took their own rooms near the middle of the hallway and me and twilight had rooms far apart from each other. Her number was six, but mine was eleven. I was at the end of the hall. Before she left to go to bed I said goodnight to her and she smiled. I walked down to the end of the hall and opened up room eleven. I walked in and looked around. The lights were already on and the room was very well lit.

I walked over to the bed and looked around some more. There were dressers and a chest for belonging at the foot of the bed. There was a nice rug laying across the ground and a window overlooking the ocean and the town. It was a fairly decent room. I let myself relax and my armor faded until I wasn't wearing anything at all. I stopped glowing for once and my white hair fell down to my sides. It was medium length and ragged, but it seemed to grow when it glows. I let out a deep yawn and crawled into bed. I went to turn the lights off when I thought about what the innkeeper said. I decided not to risk it and looked away from the oil lamp. That one oil lamp was the entire source of light for this whole room. It sat on the small bedside end table with the handle at its side and the light flickering. There was a bottle of oil next to it for when it should ever run out, but it seemed like they would have lanterns that last for a while.

I laid back in the bed not bothering to pull the covers over me since it was nice and warm inside of this bed and it was a warm summers night as well. I looked over at the window and noticed that it could be pushed open. I climbed out of bed for a second and pushed open the window. It let in a cool nights breeze which blew against my face and chest cooling me off. I smiled and left the window open as I crawled back into the bed. I laid down with my hooves over my stomach and my head resting on the pillow. I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep... After a while I was still awake.

I reopened my eyes and looked around. I felt like something was watching me, but there was nothing in the room. The little lamp flickered on next to the bed. I started to wonder if that's what was keeping me up, but when I look out the window I see that every window in town is lit up, despite it being almost midnight. The night sky was beautiful, and shone brightly on the world. It was full of stars and comets and the moon was full tonight. The moon seemed visibly bigger here than it does in Equestria. I closed my eyes one more time and tried getting some sleep. I was beginning to feel myself fall asleep when suddenly I heard a very clear hoofsteps inside of my room, like it was right next to me.

This surprise caused my eyes to fire open and my head to shoot up from the pillow and look next to me... There was nopony there. There was no way for them to hide from me. The sound was right next to me so they couldn't get away that fast and there were no hiding spots. The bed is too low to the ground for them to crawl under. I could see past the ends of the dresser and the chest at the foot of the bed and I have a clear view of the room since the bed is up against a wall. I looked around the room some more, but this time I was on alert. The next thing I knew there was a sudden pop in my ears followed by a high pitched ringing, like I had just bean deafened. I started feeling a dark presence around me... It was unimaginably strong. And just like martukus had said, the dark presence was causing me to act up now.

A dreadful pain shot through my stomach and a threw up a massive puddle of blood and black slime over the side of the bed. I grit my teeth and fell back in my bed. I writhed in pain and rolled over the side of the bed. I bumped into the end table which went falling to the ground with me. I hit the ground with a soft thud while the end table hit the ground with a large crash. The sound of shattering glass filled the air and then the room went dark. Seeing this made my stomach hurt even more. I felt the energy I felt before grow stronger and even closer to me now, it was almost right on top of me. Without thought I forced myself to begin glowing to keep whatever this was away. Another wave of pain washed over me and I threw up another puddle of blood and slime. My glowing form started to grow more dim.

Soon my pain was so great I couldn't keep it up and I threw up one last time before my light faded. Just as I burnt out something wrapped itself around my hind leg. It pulled at me and I went flying and hit the wall close to the window. There was a loud crash and I let out a yell of pain. Next it was thrust into the ceiling with my back against the ceiling. I let out another cry of pain as I coughed up some more blood and slime that splattered to the floor. Soon the force holding me up let go and I fell to the ground on my face. I hit the ground and bounced slightly before I felt a sharp pain. I let out a cry and something started digging into my back and tearing away at my flesh. Once the pain subsided I was thrown again but this time against the door. Despit how hard I hit the door I didn't break through.

At this point I'm more concerned as to how nopony has heard this yet. My friends might not be right next door, but those rooms have to be full. Another jolt of pain washed over me and I coughed up more blood and slime. I was thrown again and again, over and over again. I hit every wall and every bit of furniture, whatever was in here didn't want me to die without feeling pain first. And as more pain washed over me continuously I thought for a second... That I heard singing. I listened closely and I wasn't wrong. A female voice was humming a soft a leisurely tune which was psychotically fitting to my torture. I was held up by my hind legs as a sort of dark figure appeared, it looked like a mare.

" rose red petals... And emerald green leaves" she said. I was hazy and on the brink of passing out. " the day shines the color of the rainbow." She punctuated her statement by slashing me across the chest with some kind of black tentacle and letting my blood leak onto the floor. " the night and the moon... Though they shine, they give off light that only sways darkness."

" hurgghh..." I choked out trying to make some noise but it was no use.

" the light in your eyes..." She said holding up two tentacles. " it burns me... We must extinguish it." Without hesitation the two tentacles of darkness lashed out at me and everything went dark as waves of pain washed over me. I fell to the ground with a thud and the pain started to leave my body and I slowly slipped into a deep sleep. Before I fell into my pain induced sleep I thought about my sickness and what martukus was saying. I thought about the spirit healer he was talking about in one of the towns. But as I slipped away the only vision that flooded my head was the shadowy and vague figure of that dark mare.

I think we can afford to go and see this spirit healer...

-Authors Note: Hey guys. sorry it's been a while, but ive been caught up with some stuff, and ive been procrastinating a bit. but here's the new chapter for you... and i want you all to read this because in this one AN i'm going to reveal a few things and answer some very frequently asked questions. so without further delay... lets begin.

the first thing i want to bring to light and even though i said i wouldn't speak of it... im going to. a while back i promised you that somepony important would die... but i can tell you now... its not happening soon. it's not even going to happen in this book. once the journey to go after shal-grahkan ends i will begin a new book of the aftermath which is going to be at a slower pace and will take place over the third and fourth seasons of the show... so its going to be very episode oriented with a bit of filler in between. but i wouldn't kill anypony off and have it be a huge thing when its so obvious who it gets down to. crimson and martukus are both immortal... so that's out. the only important ponies left are twilight and thunder/Derek. and the death is going to occur in the chain of event so your going to see it happen... but it's happening in the next book. I'm still not releasing any info on who is dying, but i have made my mind up about it.

secondly. the story is named Reborn for a reason... which is a reason ive had ingeniously planned despite the actual chain of events. its not just about crimson being reanimated into Scar's body... it goes much deeper than that and it will become very clear at the end of the story. im going to let you guys theorize and guess as much as you want, but i wont confirm or deny anything. and to go along with that question people have been asking about the whole ordeal with twilight. that is going to get a bit ugly in the later chapters. right now she may seem fine but there are clues as to the fact that there is now something wrong with her. if you've noticed how clingy she is to crimson you might be able to guess what is going to happen with that. but i wont spoil anything, and like i said, ill let you guys guess and theorize as much as you want but i wont confirm or deny anything.

ive also still got quite a few unused OC's on my hands at the moment and most of them i have been able to find a place for. but there wont be any introduction of anymore new OC's for the rest of the story... at least so far. i haven't fully decided yet and maybe once the new dimensions start becoming apparent in the story that will open up some opportunity for new and more... interesting, OC's... but that would also mean that they will have to be temporary since they exist in an alternate universe.

and one last thing to tie it all up. the romantic love triangle that has consumed crimsons life. we know that crimson is married to rainbow dash and loves her. we also know that Celestia loves crimson and that twilight is now starting to fall for crimson. and we can all see their stand point and can relate to them. Celestia has been alone without a proper suitor for thousands of years until crimson came along. twilight, after the incident with scar, is now emotionally devastated and is growing closer to crimson because she sees him a strong and protective male. and dash... well crimson and dash are married... so... yeah. then there was the incident with mystee a while back... but that's been settled for now.

well im sorry for wasting your time with this.. but i hope it answered some important questions, and it makes up for not having posted a good authors note in a while. ill try and keep on top of these things and don't be afraid to send me a PM with any questions. i always manage to go through all of them and respond if i can. if you notice any mistakes or holes in the plot let me know so i can fix them to the best of my abilities. hopefully the next chapter will come along quicker than this one did which i apologize for. so i hope you guys have fun and enjoyed the chapter. so stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady my friends.-End of Note-


	43. Chapter 43: Lady Of The Dark

Everything was faint. There was a small glow but everything was still dark. And the darkness only grew until everything was pitch black. I opened my eyes... But everything was still black. I tried making sure my eyes were open, I even brought my hooves up to rub them... But they were still open. Very thing was dark. I tried scrambling to my hooves but I was weak and tired. I heard a muffled sound, like a knocking. The sound was soon followed by a distinguishable click followed by a soft creak. Next I heard a horrified ghasp and the stamping of hooves growing closer.

"CRIMSON!" Shouted a very worried voice still slightly muffled. I figured it out to be twilight.

" oh my god..." Said another familiar voice. I recognized it as martukus.

" Avo help us..." Said another voice. This voice wasn't as familiar as the others. I felt four energies, and with them I could see. Through the darkness colored outlines lit up and the world became visible through outlines and energy. First I saw... Or I should say, I sensed twilight. Her figure was outlined in purple energy with black in the middle. I next saw thunder with a blue outline and martukus with a white outline. The ground and world around me was outlined in white. The bed, the fireplace, even the cracks in the floorboards and gritty texture of the walls. Twilight was right over me in staring in horror.

The voice I could not figure out from before soon took shape in my mind and through the darkness a figure arose which must have been there a while now. I looked and saw that it was the innkeeper. The room around me was stained with red outlines... Most likely blood. There were claw marks and slashes ruining the walls. Seeing everything through this point of view was easy enough but still difficult. Everything around me was either black or just a simple, colored outline. I couldn't see the stone walls, since they weren't alive. The only thing I could see were the floorboards which were once a mighty tree, the ponie sin the room, and my blood over the walls. To me it looked like red streaks and claw marks were just floating in the dark air, but they were on the walls and ceiling.

" oh god crimson say something..." Said thunder.

" c'mon crimson... Are you alright?" Asked twilight worryingly. I finally scrounged up a well of energy that only grew stronger and stronger. I pulled up to my hooves very shakily but grew stronger and more confident.

" ughh..." I said almost on my knees hanging my head and rubbing my temple with my hoof. " oh god... Ughh." I muttered out again.

" oh thank god... Crimson what happened?" Asked twilight.

" I'm... I'm not entirely sure." I said.

" wait a minute..." Said martukus who walked over and glared at my face. " your eyes... Crimson... Are you blind?" He asked. Everypony in the room looked over at me.

" uh... Eh...yes." I said with a sigh.

" it's obvious that shal-grahkan is trying to weaken you outside of his realm before you reach him... His shadows burn like no other." Said martukus. The innkeeper looked over at us like we were crazy. I couldn't see any real features on any of them, just outlines and glowing circles in place of eyes.

" crimson... Your blind?" Said twilight.

" yes..."

" oh god..." She said covering her mouth in shock.

" but this wasn't shal-grahkan's doing..." I said. " it was something else..."

" the dark mare..." Said the innkeeper. We all shot our gazes towards him. I do remember seeing a shadowy mare the other night.

" you've seen her..." He said. " you've even got the dark scars to prove it... Like me."

" who is she?" I asked.

" nopony knows..." He said. " I was out one night... Just in the woods. Suddenly something caught my hoof and I fell dropping my lantern. The lantern rolled way and my legs fell out of the protective light. Next thing I knew something was tearing into my hind legs, like some kind of lion or something, and I hear this beautiful voice. Reciting, melodically a poem of some sort. When I finally got hold of my lantern and shone the light the pain and the voice stopped... I sat there the rest of the night in fear with my bleeding and torn open legs."

" did you see her?" I asked

" no... And thank Avo I didn't." He said. " there are some ponies who claim to have seen her... But those ponies have had their eyes torn from their heads." He said. " I'm curious as to why your eyes are still in your head... Despite being blinded now."

" I am too..." I said making up an excuse for not knowing why... Even though I do really.

" crimson we need to get you some help..." Said twilight.

" I'll be fine twilight." I said.

" I've got more than just my sight you know." I said reaching a hoof over to her left cheek and placing it against her face and smiling looking right at her. She just stared right at me with open eyes.

" who is this Avo that you keep praising... Is he your god?" Asked thunder.

" Avo is more than a god." He said. " and its a she... Avo is the goddess of our land." Replied the innkeeper. " she was the one that forged this great nation and when we failed to appease her she became angry and over one million years ago she erupted the volcano and showed our kind the true extent of her power." He said.

" she must be angry now if this is what she lets happen at night..." Said martukus.

"She has forever scared this part of our land. The volcano eruption also unleashed horrible demons that will forever haunt the forsaken land." He said.

" what's the forsaken land?" I asked.

" that's where you are right now." He said. " stallasia is decided into two parts, the eastern blight and the forsaken land. The forsaken land is the whole area that was destroyed by the volcano those million years ago... The eastern blight doesn't have to live in the fear of night... We do."

" martukus... Where is this spirit healer?" I asked looking over to him.

" a few towns over, past the volcano... Probably just outside of the forsaken lands."

" now wait adventurer..." Said the innkeeper. " tell me... What are you really?" He asked.

" me... I'm the most interesting pony you'll ever see." I said smiling.

" so... What do we do now?" Asked twilight.

" my blindness isn't as a problem as what's poisoning me..." I said. " we need to leave today... Well get a few lamps and plenty of oil as well as a bit of food... But we need to leave today." I said.

" are we going to the spirit healers?" Asked thunder.

" yes..." I answered. " every night that I spend sick is another night of torture... We need to get there as soon as possible."

" I know the spirit healer you are talking about..." Said the innkeeper. " I went to her after the attack because I was feeling Ill" he said. " the dark scars began to spread higher up my legs and were consuming my body." He said. " she is the one who healed my and kept the darkness from spreading... She works miracles and is very famous. If it helps she is going to Neewah to help family. She will be there for the next six days."

" how far is Neewah?" I asked.

" it's in the forsaken lands..." Said the innkeeper. " it's actually on the way to the volcano, two towns over... Only a four day venture... If you leave today you can make it. Since your fortunate enough to keep your eyes than she might be able to restore your sight... But if you miss her then you'll have to chase her all the way back to Milldara on the edge of the eastern blight... Which is a week long journey from Neewah."

" alright... Then we need to move fast." I said. " we should start heading out of town now, we can find shops as we head out."

" I have a map you could have downstairs. I'm sure it will come in great use." Said the innkeeper.

" that would be very kind of you." Said martukus to the innkeeper. We followed the innkeeper downstairs and he went behind his counter and into the back room. Twilight stood by me and kept a hoof over my shoulder trying to guide me. It wasn't really needed, I could tell where I was going, I wasn't hopelessly blind after all. I could sense my way around and use the energies to create a picture in my head. Still... I didn't comment because I know she means best and that's all that matters.

We finally got to the counter and the innkeeper went into the back. Everything was silent now, only a few other ponies were in the bar talking and having drinks. We waited there for a moment in silence before the innkeeper finally came back out from the back room. He walked up to the counter and passed the map over to thunder who was the closest. I couldn't actually see the map, but I could tell from the passing gesture of the outlines that there was one. To me it looked like thunder was staring at his own hoof but it was probably the map. The horn outline on his head started glowing brighter and a ring of magical energy floated in front of him. He must be using his magic to levitate the map.

" thank you..." Said thunder. " this will be of much help."

" we should be on our way." Said martukus.

" good luck adventurers... May Avo guide you." He said waving. We smiled and waved as we left out the front door. We walked out into the bright morning air and suddenly everything went white and my eyes began to burn. I cringed in pain and closed my eyes which helped, but they still stung.

" ahh... Hnng..." I moaned gritting my teeth and trying to block out the light from my eyes.

" crimson... What's wrong?" Asked twilight.

" the sun... Hnn, its burning my eyes..." I said.

" crimson, there is no sun." Said thunder. " it's a dark and cloudy day."

" well the light is burning my eyes." I said. " like a lot..."

" well... Uhh... Oh, one second." Said twilight who's voice slowly faded and she ran back into the inn. I stood there trying everything I could to keep the light from reaching my eyes and I was able to stop the burning by looking at the ground and covering my eyes, but that isn't a very practical solution. Soon I heard twilights hoofsteps again and she was right next to me. " here maybe this will help..." She said grabbing my head. I felt something soft start to wrap around my eyes and the back of my head... Did she just blindfold me? I don't know... But it worked. I opened my eyes and I could see again... Well I couldn't see. I could see the outlines of energy instead of the pure white light. My eyes didn't burn and I could look around again.

" that... That actually works." I said smiling. " what did you do?" I asked facing her.

" I just wrapped a headband around your eyes." She said, " it's a leather headband with a cloth interior so it's think and comfortable."

" thanks twi..." I said still smiling. " let's get going shall we."

We all pushed on and made our way through the town. Being blind like I was I wasn't much use. I couldn't buy any of the food or supplies that we went to get because I couldn't see the items or the money in my hoof. I could only see the ponies and the environment around me. Even the lifeless stone soon became apparent as just a white chalky outline on the ground and walls. I had to pass of my bags to thunder but we did all get other bags from a clothing shop. Whenever we would buy something one of my friends would walk over and just put something in my pack. After a while we did all find a place to eat. We all sat around outside with our food. I held out my hooves and twilight placed something in them.

I could feel a warm plate of food in my hooves, but I couldn't see it, which is a really weird feeling. She had to tell me what it was so I could try and eat it. She said it was a sandwich. I felt the food finding a right place to grab it and eat it. Once I picked it up and took the first bite I didn't place it down In fear of loosing it. When I finished my food twilight took the empty plate and I stood up. After our short break I got up and stretched my legs. We started to make our way back through town again and martukus told me we were almost out of town now, we had almost all of the supplies we needed except for fresh water. He said there was a public well just outside of town. We had bought canteens which were strapped to my saddlebags with our names on them... Except for mine, mines the one on the top left.

Inside my saddlebags I was carrying the lanterns and oil for said lanterns. There was a lot of oil for them and martukus said we probably won't need all of it, but then again nopony wants to end up like me. I didn't take much offense and agreed that we should better be safe than sorry. So we closed in on the public well which was on the border of town, twilight said she could see it from here, I could too. We got up to the well and thunder and martukus started filling up the canteens with fresh well water. Once that was done we finally headed out on the path out of town. The town was surrounded by a small jungle like biome with exotic trees and plants. The whole world seemed covered in green now instead of black. We finally set off now that we have all our supplies, food, water, a source of light, and other basic supplies.

With everything around me so dark I had no real conception of time. I could count by the hours and minutes, so far since I woke up only five hours have passed. If I had to guess, it must be some time after twelve, but I can't really tell. I'm sure that soon enough somepony will speak up and tell me when it's getting dark. I looked back and saw the well a ways behind us, but it was just the start of the path. I turned back and kept onward down the path. Derek and martukus stayed in the front and me and twilight lagged in the back. Martukus decided that since adventurers seem to be very well respected in this country that we should keep up the gig and make it more obvious. So me and him both had dawned our own suits of armor, his dark and mine light. I put up my hood and stretched my wings slightly. To be honest the whole getup I was wearing looked pretty bad ass. Spiked metal armor that glows like light, glowing symbols on my body, hood and cape, and a blindfold. I couldn't really see myself to tell if I looked awesome, but I imagined that I did.

Since our armor was magical armor it glowed brightly in my field of vision. Twilight and Derek looked like colored outlines, but me and martukus looked different through my eyes. He was looked like a patch of static moving I front of me, grey white and black lines zipped up and down his outline. I just glowed purely white. I looked down at my own hooves and it was just a solid white block in the shape of my body. We kept walking through and the world was filled with the sound of chirping birds and the rustling of leaves in trees. There was a cool breeze and today was a rather humid day, it had been like it all day. Markus told me that it was a dark cloudy day and I still think it is. We had been walking for a few minutes in total silence until twilight nudged ,y side and spoke up.

" I've been wondering about something crimson." Said twilight.

" what is it?" I asked looking at her.

" that... You just looked over to me, how are you doing that if your blind?"

" well first I can hear you right next to me, plus before you started talking you nudged me." I said.

" yeah... But you haven't needed anypony to hold your hoof and walk you around, you seem to get around just fine while your blind..." She said.

" I've been wondering that too." Said martukus.

" well... It's simple... But complicated at the same time."

" go ahead... Shoot." Said thunder. " I'd like to hear this too."

" well you know that I can sense energies... Right?" I asked. They all nodded. " well I can use that sense to manifest a mental image in my head, like an outline of your energies, and the energy of everything around me."

" so you can see..." Said twilight.

" almost..." I replied. " see to me twilight, your just a purple outline, and thunder is a blue outline." I said. " I can't see things like the saddlebags over my back, the map, or the food we were eating earlier."

" because ether aren't alive, is that it?" Asked martukus stating his theory.

" yes... It i can see things like rocks and stone since they are an element and give off their own energy." I said.

" that's kinda cool..." Said twilight.

" kinda?" I said smiling and glancing back at her.

" well we have been through more interesting things lately."

" I guess so..." I said.

" hey thunder... Grab one of the lanterns out of crimson saddlebag, its going to be night soon." He said.

" it is?" I asked.

" yeah it's starting to get dimmer." He said. I felt thunder rummaging around in the bags by my side and he pulled out a lantern and some oil to keep by his side should we need it. " now the sales pony said that these are long lasting lanterns which is good... But we should still be careful when we are resting."

" I think right here is a good place to set up camp." Said thunder gesturing to a large opening in the woods that had large stones jetting out from the ground. Most of the stones were flat and would make great places to sleep.

" no..." I said, everypony looked over to me.

" no?" Said twilight.

" we should push through the night, in this case the forest, the whole continent is proven to be too dangerous." I said. " we shouldn't stay in one place for too long especially after my incident. I can see somewhat but I don't think the rest of you can." I said.

" alright... That seems alright." Said thunder.

" I agree, this place is very dangerous at night."

" how many lanterns do we have?" I asked.

" three..." Said thunder.

" good, we can burn two together and increase our radius of light." I said. Twilight nodded and grabbed one of the lanters? She filled it with oil and a small flame lit up. I couldn't see the lantern, but I could see the flame. It looked like she was holding a little fire by an invisible string.

" we do need to sleep at some point though..." Said twilight.

" we can take short stops..." Said martukus. " every now and then we can rest for an hour then continue."

" somepony will need to keep watch so that we can rest and don't oversleep." Said thunder.

" I'll do that." I said.

" yeah and we can take shifts with every stop." Said twilight.

" no it's fine, you three can rest, I don't need the rest so much." I said.

" crimson... Your blind, you shouldn't even be walking right now, you should be resting, all day, hell even all week." Scolded twilight.

" twilight... I'm fine." I said.

" crimson you really should try and rest." Said martukus. " I know what you are, and that's no excuse... You should rest." He said looking back at me. I looked back at him through the blindfold and just smiled.

" alright..." I said. " I'll take the first shift then we can switch off and cycle through."

" thanks..." Said twilight smiling. I smiled back and we pressed onward.

" okay then, we can push on a while longer until it really gets dark and we get tired, then we'll rest for an hour while crimson takes watch." Said martukus.

" alright..." Said thunder. " then we'll walk again for another hour or so and rest up again, we can work by the hours." He said.

" sounds good to me." I said. " how about you twilight?" I asked looking over to her.

" sounds good to me," she said. " I'll take the next shift after crimson." She said.

We pushed on some more and apparently night began to fall, the sound of birds and animals had died down and now only the eerie silence of night fell upon us. That silence was soon broken by the sounding of crickets and other creatures of night. I could only imagine that there would be many exotic creatures on this continent. We pressed on a bit longer and the ground under us started to get a bit soft and wet. It had been close to an hour now and I could see the others were getting tired now as I had to slow my own pace down as not to pull ahead of them.

" I think it's a good time to stop and rest." I said.

" are you sure?" Asked thunder as we all stopped.

" yeah, it's been a bit over an hour now and we should rest up." I said.

" alright... Find someplace dry and stay close." Said martukus. I found a nice dry spot under a tree and rested up against the truck. Martukus gave me a lantern and I held it on my lap and sat down. The other around a nice place to sleep on the ground close to me. We tried to stay close together. Thunder and martukus both took a spot close to me and stayed in the glow of the lantern. They laid down and seemed to drift off rather quickly. There wasn't much space left for twilight, who was walking over to me.

" mind if I sleep here with you?" She asked. " you know... To keep you company." She said. I smiled and took the lantern off my lap. She nested up against me and laid her head down on my lap which was now free of armor. Se laid her head down and her purple mane spread over my hind legs and she rested the side of her head in the gap between my hind legs. Sitting down this way wasn't very comfortable being a pony, but twilight was smiling with her eyes closed seeming to be very comfortable where she is, so I stayed like this. I smiled and held the lantern up and hung it on a broken branch on the tree I was resting on. It took me some time to find the handle and hang it up, I almost dropped it a few times which would have been bad.

I sat there and we all rested in the darkness of night. The sounds of the world around me filled my ears and I could feel the energy of the forest. Twilights gentle breath would wash down my hind legs every time she exhaled. I placed my hoof over her side and she grabbed it right up like a teddy bear and coddled it. I smiled and rested my head against the tree trunk. I looked around but for me there wasn't much to see. Just looking at these vivid outlines of the world was interesting at first, but now it's almost become painful to look at. Even if I close my eyes I can still see them. I didn't even try to start looking around like this, it just happened, and now I can't stop it. This must work like a second line of sight if my eyes fail me, which is kind of neat. But I already miss seeing all the vibrant colors and hues of the normal world. Outlines and bright neon colors aren't pretty to keep looking at.

" it's been so long..." Said a voice. My ears perked up and I sat up a bit careful not to wake up twilight. The voice was darkly familiar, it was a mares voice. " now you can see my love... The true colors of the world, only black." Said the voice. Why did she call me 'her love'?

" hmm..." Moaned twilight twisting beneath me. She moaned slightly and turned her body around so her face was looking over to my stomach. She smiled again as she slept and held onto my hoof. There was a cold breeze that didn't seem to bother the others, but stung against my skin as it passed through my fur. There was a soft tune in the air which burst into same voice was singing a tune with Da's and La's. it sounded like a lullaby, but felt dark and twisted. The sound cooled the night air more than before and seemed to make the darkness I could see only ever more darker. Soon there was another whisper in my ear while the singing continued. I couldn't tell what it said but it repeated again, this time louder.

" can you feel that... My love?" Lashed the voice whispering in my ear. " this ever knowing darkness that lies deep within even the brightest of stallions." She said. " spiraling us closer to the void, twisting, churning, confusing us, making us angry, making us yearning... Yearning for so many things." The voice sounded distant, like it was coming from deep in the forest. " things like wealth." The voice grew closer. " fame..." Even closer now. " power..." Even closer now, it sounded like it was about a few feet away, I couldn't see anything. "...love..." Said the voice in a seductive tone, this time right next to me speaking right into my ear. I didn't move, I knew nothing could get me in the light.

" you can't hurt me..." I whispered trying to reach the voice. I don't know if it was going to work or not.

" but you hurt me..." Said the voice. " why do you bring this light into my forest?" She asked. " the light hurts me... Please, put it out." She said. " then we can be together... And I can show you a place of pain and pleasure untold." She said right into my ear again. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like e way this is going. There was a soft moan which quickly escalated into a frantic laughter. It was a sick twist of evil laughter and happy laughter.

" what are you?" I asked whispering again. There was silence now. Everything seemed to be silent, even the crickets. Soon there was another burst of soft laughter which faded after a few seconds.

" roses are red, violets are blue," she said. " only when the light is gone can the eyes see what is true." She said singing to some sick poem. " here in the darkness, a place that I call home, only here in this forest may I freely roam." She said. There was a bit of laughter that faded back into the poem. Se sounded like she was coming form all angles. " but here in this forest, a place where none dare walk, may you find it's mistress, the lady of the dark." She said.

Suddenly there was silence and a moaning wind passed through the forest taking away this, lady of the dark. I thought about that poem she sung for a little bit because for some strange reason it struck me as curious. It was fairly simple in understanding the literal meaning, but I felt that there was a deep hidden meaning to it. I sat there looking around but I couldn't see much other than my friends and the forest. The green glowing leaves and brown trunks along with my own glowing friends weren't the best things to look at to see what's around me. I thought about the poem and tried to pick it apart.

Roses are red, violets are blue. Only when the light is gone can the eyes see what is true. Here in the darkness, a place she calls home, only here in this forest may she freely roam. But here in this forest, a place where none dare walk, may you find it's mistress... The lady of the dark. I thought that over and a chilling wind passed over the forest. I shook my head to pull me awake since I was starting to drift off myself. I recalled the moment from when we stopped and up until now. After a bit of thinking I figured out that it had been a little more than an hour since then. Don't ask me to explain how I know that because I couldn't. I reached up to the branch above me where the lantern hung and carefully lowered it down. I shook twilight who still laid on me sleeping.

" twilight... C'mon, wake up." I said nudging her to consciousness. " c'mon, it's time to get going..." I said.

" huh...what?" She asked as she slowly opened up her eyes. She shuffled around a bit and pulled herself up. She looked up at me and smiled. " oh hey... Is it time to go?" She asked.

" yeah...c'mon, lets get the others up." I said. She sat up and climbed to her hooves. Once she was off of me I got up as well and we woke up martukus and thunder. Once everypony was up we set out again and pushed onward through the forest. We walked by and time passed. It wasn't long before another hour had passed and this time twilight would stay and keep watch. We found another place to rest and we laid down. I laid down near a tree and twilight walked over and kept watch near me. Once the hour was up she woke me up and I woke up the others. We carried on and it was like that the whole night. We took shifts and the night seemed to be bare able and we didn't have any problems.

Fr eight hours we passed through the forest and took our shifts. Once it got to thunder who was last it was already getting light out. Not even an hour after thunders shift did it start to get light outside now and the sun was peaking over the horizon and lighting up the forest. The darkness faded within minutes and it was safe for us to turn off our lantern. We kept strutting through the forest and out of the whispering wind I thought I could hear a voice. At first it sounded like a female voice calling out my name, but then it became much more clear.

" crimson..." Said the faded voice of a mare to the right. I looked off to the rot of the woods and for a second, I saw something. Instead of an outline of bright neon colors, I saw an actual picture. I mare, standing between the outlines of the trees. Her hair was grey, her coat was black. Her eyes were red like rubies and she wore a black gown that was torn and dirty. Her hair was braided back with black rope swarming through the braids. Her dress had red swerves through it like a pattern. Her tail was ragged and not as well kept as her mane. Her dress was mostly lace and looked like a wedding gown. And her face was all torn up. Open wounds and scratches across her eyes, like cat claws had dug out each eye. There was flesh missing from different spots of her body and they leaked blood, I stared at her with curiosity and strangely, passion.

Not a passion of love, but a passion of interest. She was by far one of the most interesting foes I've seen in a long time. Se looked sad, not at all like she wanted to kill me and hurt anypony. She looked like she needed help, like she was in incredible pain. She had the same face a child does when he is sad and looks like he might begin crying. And for a second she did cry, but not tears...blood. Drops of blood leaked from behind her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Then she opened her mouth to speak. She had pure white teeth, all evenly flat and bright white.

" until the next night... My love." She said softly. A strong breeze blew from behind me and blew her away. She evaporated into black smoke and was carried away by the wind and back into her forest. I kept looking to my left like I was expecting to see her again out of nowhere, but it never happened. It had been about three minutes before somepony tapped my shoulder. I looked over to see that twilight had nudged me with her horn and looked at me with a slight sense of uncertainty. I could tell from the way her bright purple, glowing eyes were slanted out wards.

" is something wrong?" She asked. " what are you looking at?"

" it's nothing twilight... Don't worry about it." Is said.

" whenever you say it's nothing it usually is something..." Said twilight. Martukus and thunder have taken interest in the conversation and tuned in. " I know you see something that we can't... What is it... Be honest." She said. I let out a deep sigh and looked at her. I looked over to martukus and thunder who gave me the same look twilight was. I looked back to twilight and decided to tell the truth.

" The lady of the dark..."

-Authors Note: hello there my shady friends. so things got interesting very fast, as you've seen. who exactly is this 'Lady Of The Dark'? some of you may be asking yourselves that question, and some of you are just like 'oh she's just some evil demon bitch lurking in the forest.'. well that's not quite right, she may be one of the deepest, and well supported villains ive come up with yet. it's going to be fun... you'll see. i plan on keeping the lady of the dark with the group through all of stallasian adventure. all answers will be revealed in time, until then my friends, stay safe, stay sober, and stay shady.-End of Note-


	44. Chapter 44: The Legend Of Alba Roza

"The lady of the dark?" asked twilight staring at me with her big glowing eyes. We were making our way through the forest. It was a cool morning from what I could tell. I'm not sure exactly how early it is in the morning, but I was told that the sun had risen about an hour ago.

"Who is this… lady of the dark?" asked thunder.

"is she the one who did that to you?" asked Martukus giving me an open stare. I glared back at him for a second before responding.

"Yes…" I said. He glared at me a while longer and we all walked onward in awkward silence until he turned around.

"It's obvious that she's trying to reach out to you for some reason." Said Martukus keeping his gaze set forward. "Has she spoken to you?" he asked.

"Y-yes…" I replied. I could feel the wave of surprise cover twilight.

"she has… when?" she asked.

"Last night… and just a moment ago." I said. "She keeps calling me 'her love'."

"'her love'?" quoted thunder.

"I'm not sure why but I don't like the sound of it…" I said. "we should try and get to a town before night falls, I don't like spending time in this forest."

"agreed." Said Martukus. "According to the map there isn't much forest left between us and the next town. But there's something written here in red up close. Some kind of red X with strange stallasain writing next to it." He said.

"I'm guessing you don't know what it says." I said.

"Not a clue…" he said.

"Well… whatever it is, I'm sure it was just a landmark the innkeeper put down. This is his map after all." I said. "Don't worry about it." I said. We pushed on down the path and we kept moving through. Something had occurred to me though. The entire time that I was up last night and since I had been in the incident that blinded me, I hadn't thrown up any blood or slime since then. I thought about that and with the dark lady whispering in my ear all last night I should have been tagging the forest with puke.

" I kinda wish things would be easy for a change." Said thunder.

" yeah, we all do... But nothing can really ever be easy." Replied twilight.

" I can testify to that..." I said. Everypony laughed and chuckled and we carried on with smiles on our faces. I managed to lighten the mood a bit and we trotted down the path telling a few jokes and funny stories. The air in the sky started to really warm up and was only complimented by a cool summer like breeze. If I had to guess though, it should be about spring back home in Equestria. I couldn't see the sun, but I could feel its warm rays shining down from the sky. "hey twilight..." I said

" yeah crimson..." She said in a chipper voice.

" can you tell me what the sky looks like?" I asked.

" uhh... Sure crimson." She said. Her head looked up to the sky. " it's a cloudless day today and the sun I beating down from behind us. There are a few birds flying high up in the air."

" thanks twilight." I said. She smiled and we kept walking down the road. After a while of walking down the road the temperatures rose slightly and the forest seemed to get a bit thinner than it was a while back. The path gee larger and a bit wider than before, it looked like you could pull a few carriages down this road. As we walked onward I felt something... Something different. It wasn't pure evil I was feeling, but it was unsettling. I didn't say anything but I looked over to martukus who seemed to eye the forest around us suspiciously. I could tell that he could sense the danger too. I think that red X on the map might have been important. Thankfully me and martukus had already dawned our armor and were ready for whatever would come our way.

Soon there was a sudden rustle in the bushes and I turned to look. I stopped and forced the others to stop with me. Twilight and thunder didn't say anything but they looked at me with confusion. The bush rustled again which grabbed their attention. We looked at the bush ready for a fight. It rustled again and then our attackers leapt from the bush like a rabbit. In fact... It was a rabbit. I saw a white fluffy outline of a bunny leap out from the bushes and onto the road. I let out a deep sigh and chuckled a bit as well as martukus. The rabbit swiftly hopped away and we began to turn around to go back. Suddenly there was a whirling in the wind and a rigid thud followed by a yell of pain.

"AAAHHHH..." Yelled martukus who was stricken with an arrow to the neck and he fell. Twilight and thunder scrambled and panicked and I did as well. Soon ponies leapt out from the bushes and dropped down from the trees. They were everywhere and their energies faded and blended in, there were too many that I couldn't tell where any of them were. Twilight screamed and thunder yelled out in rage. They started to glow and fired bolts of magic to try and defend themselves. I felt somepony tugging on my bags and I quickly turned and bucked them in the head.

" crimson... Help." Yelled twilight. I felt more enemies around me. I tried to cleave my way through the bandits but I couldn't tell anything apart. Something hit me in the back, but my armor was doing a good job of protecting me. I started using my magic to slash through all the energies I didn't recognize. Twilight screamed again and I pushed through the bandits. They had grabbed her and thunder and were hauling them away. There was a large cart with a cage on it that the bandits had thrown my friends in. They closed the cage and looked to me. They tried to fight me and they yelled out attacks but a slashed through every single bandit that approached me.

" let my friends go..." I shouted. I cleaved my way through bandits but something stung me on the neck. That sting soon turned into a raging pain and I placed ,y hoof around the arrow that just pierced through my neck. I began to get dizzy and soon collapsed onto the ground. A few bandits tugged away at me and grabbed the bags I was wearing. Instead of grabbing me too they just left me there to die and they left with twilight and thunder.

" crimson... Help us..." Yelled twilight from behind the bars of the cage. " crimson..." She yelled one last time before they grew too far and I had grown too faint. I started to fade to of consciousness and soon fell into darkness. In my head a went through everything I could have done differently. I hoped to wake up quickly before something bad happens to them. I then thought about how easily this could have been avoided if I had my sight. While I can get around like this normally it just isn't the same. Soon as I was now approaching the verge of consciousness I heard something like hoofsteps and the creaking of wagon wheels. Then there was a voice, an older, elderly mares voice.

" wait... Stop." She said calmly. Soon the hoofsteps stopped and the creaking wheels stopped as well. There was a brief silence before a pair of hooves hit the ground and started to walk over. I was now fading into reality slowly. I lazily started to open my eyes to see a white outline of a mare walking rot over to me. I let out a low moan. " here... He must be the one... I can feel it." Said the elderly voice. Her voice was soft and caring.

" are you sure Madame Roza?" Asked a stallion from the carriage.

" yes I'm sure... He is the one I've felt since he came here." She said. She walked up to me and I managed to roll over a bit to get a better look at her. There was another set of hoofsteps coming over and soon a brown outline came into my view.

" Madame Roza... He has an arrow in his neck." Said the stallion. " I don't believe he is the hero you thought him to be, he must not be long for this world now."

" nade uh ga sumeè" she said in some strange language. It rung in my head as strange but it seemed oddly familiar. It must be stallasian.

"Su... Da sumeè." Said the stallion.

" can you hear me hero..." Asked the mare.

" ughh... Y- yes..." I muttered.

" good... Now hold on, this might hurt." She said placing her hoof around the arrow in my neck. She slowly started to pull the arrow out and I grit and writhed in pain on the ground. One the arrow tore out of my neck I let out a slight yell of pain and grit my teeth even harder. " are you the one they call crimson?" She asked.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. Having the arrow torn out of my neck supplied me with a kick of adrenaline which helped me wake up. I slowly crawled over onto my stomach and slowly staggered to my feet.

" I am Madame Roza." She said. " I believe you have been looking for me." She said.

" you... Are you the spirit healer?" I asked.

" indeed I am child." She said with a smile.

" how long have I been out?" I asked.

" only an hour from the looks of these poor bandit bastards." Said the stallion form the carriage.

" we've been looking for each other. I'm glad we found you before another night had passed." She said. " hero... Can you please remove the blindfold from your face." She asked.

" I can't... The sunlight burns my eyes." I said.

" don't worry... It won't burn." She said. " please take off the blindfold." She repeated. I was reluctant to reach over and grab the blindfold. I untied it from. Behind me and pulled it off. I kept my eyes closed tight, but the light didn't hurt. I slowly opened my eyes and the sunlight wasn't burning me. I blinked a few times, it felt good to have that thing off my face, though it didn't help at all with my vision.

" can... Can you heal me?" I asked.

" yes... I can..." She said. " please lay down over here." She said walking over to the road behind the cart. She walked me over and placed me behind the cart. I slowly laid down on my back and looked at her. " now, stay very still... I'm going to heal you, but you have to fight to push the darkness out of you." She said.

" alright..." I said.

" whenever your ready to begin child..." She said. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh. I swallowed my concern and got ready to go.

" alright... I'm ready." I said.

" good..." She said. "Zakiel... Get my bag for me please." She said looking over to the other stallion.

" yes Madame Roza." He said running to the carriage and grabbing something obediently. I couldn't see the bag but he placed some invisible item next to Roza and she smiled. She started pulling things out of the bag which seemed invisible to me too. Next she pulled out a little bag which was very visible to me. It was glowing the brightest white I've seen. She reached her hoof in and sprinkled this white glowing glitter in a circle around me. She placed the bag back and smiled.

" are you ready?" She asked one last time. I just nodded and she smiled. The other stallion stepped away from the circle of light around me and Roza placed her two hooves on the edge of the circle and closed her eyes. Then she started talking in stallasian again. " nomé îs nòr mas ga da shûn." She recited. She repeated that phrase over and over again and soon the circle of light started to blow and soon the simple circle turned into a cylinder of light than encased me. So all I could see was white. Just white everything. I closed my eyes and when I opened them I was in a strangely familiar white land. It was completely flat and seemingly endless.

I looked around and when I turned around to look behind me I saw myself. Although it wasn't really me, it was a complete shadow version of myself. Glowing white eyes with nothing but darkness to make up its being. She said I had to fight back the darkness, this must be what she meant. Without hesitation the black shadow version of me started charging at me. I soon took charge and did the same. We both charged at each other and we clashed. The clash seemed to shatter this world around me and the white world seemed to break like glass and shattered into darkness. The only light left was a faint glow from behind me, like a light at the end of the tunnel. Me and my shadow self bucked heads and tried to push each other back.

I wasn't doing well. The shadow version of me started to force me back wards and as he did I soon started to fade as well as the light from behind me. He pushed me back little by little until I called up any strength I had and kept him from forcing me back. At this point I looked like a ghost and the light behind me was almost invisible. If I loose this, then it's over. He pushed me back one more inch and a sudden rush of memories returned to me. Everything I had forgotten over the thousand years of training, all of it had returned to me in one flash. And to my advantage those memories gave me hope, purpose, and with that they gave me the will to fight back and the power to do so. I let out a shout of war and started to force the shadow back. It's eyes opened wide like it was afraid that I was going to win. He tried pushing back but I kept forcing him away. The light behind me, including myself, began to glow brighter and brighter.

" this is my body..." I shouted. " you can't have it, not after everything I've been through, you can't have me, I won't let you take everything away from me..." I shouted and with that I started to charge him backwards at an almost running pace now. The world grew brighter and brighter until the darkness shattered around me and I was launched backwards into a spiraling world of light. And suddenly everything was blindingly white. That white light soon faded into the world around me. Every color of the sky and forest filled my eyes all at once and I could see again. I let out a gasp and a yell of surprise as I shot up from the ground like waking up from a bad dream. I looked around and the first pony I saw warm Madame Roza.

She was an elderly mare who was wrinkled and old, but still somewhat appealing. She had white fur with brown hair. Her mane was tied back in a bun and her tail was draped and straightened. She had blue eyes and a white smile. Her cutie mark was a yellow flower which resembled a rose. She was wearing a black sundress with flared legs and a lace back. The more I looked at the dress the more horrifically similar it looked like the one I saw on the dark lady. The other stallion was just a brown stallion with black hair. He wasn't wearing anything and his mane and tail were rather unkempt. The road was littered with torn and sliced up corpses of bandits wearing leather armor and carrying swords. I was so relieved to actually be able to see.

" thank you Madame Roza..." I said smiling. " if there's anything you need... I am in your dept." I said.

" I don't want you to be in my dept." she said. " but I do want you to do something for me." She said.

" what is it... Anything?" I said.

" I'm sure you know of the lady of the dark." She said.

"Yes... I do." I said in a more serious tone of voice.

" you must defeat her..." She said. " she is too dangerous for this world... And I haven't been able to fight her myself."

" I have to ask something of you Madame Roza." I said.

" what is it child?" She asked.

" your related to her... Aren't you." I said. She seemed a bit surprised by this. " there's a connection between the two of you...I can feel it." She looked at me and then turned over to the other stallion.

"Zaniel... Leave us... I must speak to crimson alone..." She said. The stallion nodded his head obediently and walked away into the woods and out of earshot. She turned to me and took a deep breath and let it all out. " the lady of the dark... If my sister." She said.

" y-your sister." I stammered.

" yes... She has been terrorizing these forests for almost five hundred years." She said.

" how... How old are you really?" I asked.

" I'm going to be 478 next month." Se said smiling. " allow me top explain." She said. " me and her aren't normal ponies. In fact... We're the same pony." She said.

" is there a story behind this?" I asked.

" yes... And you deserve to know it." She said.

So she told me her story. A long long time ago, almost four hundred years there was a little girl named Alba Roza. She lived in a small village just off the edge of the forsaken land in the eastern blight. She loved playing outside when she was just a filly and would play in the woods every day. Her mother and father would let he replay in the woods because during the day it was a very safe place, but she always had to be home at night because it would get to dangerous. The night was always dangerous since the great eruption of the volcano but the lady of the dark only made it much more dangerous. So she would play in the woods and sit down by the stream and look at all the fish that swam through the water.

Then, one day she was playing in the woods and went in deeper than she had ever gone before. It was a particularly nice day that day and she was having lots of fun. That day was a special day too. It was the stallasian holiday celebrating the dead, so she was wearing a black dress. The Holliday was called 'Diam nos Mortès' or, month of the dead. It was a month long celebration where they have to wear black dresses every day in honor of the dead. She played in the woods in her black lace gown and she was having so much fun. But soon it started to get dark, very dark. She tried finding her way back home... But she had gone too far into the forest and she didn't know her way around. It wasn't long before she came to the grim conclusion that she was lost. Soon enough night fell and the forest was dark.

She sat there in the forest scared and lonely. She began to cry and cry hoping that maybe somepony would come and save her, some kind of hero... But nopony came to help her. So she sat there in the dark scary forest crying, until somepony called out to her. She stopped crying and looked around for the pony who had called her name. When she looked around she found that it wasn't a pony who called her name... But a pixie. The little pixie helped lighten up the scared filly and soon they became friends. The pixie helped little Alba Roza out of the forest and back home. Her parents were relieved that she was out of the forest and she was reunited at last. She told her parents about the pixie that helped her but they never saw it.

The next day Alba Roza went back into the forest and when she got there she met the pixie again. They would play together all day in the forest and have fun. The pixies name was xena and she was a little pixie, not much bigger than a dandelion. So xena and Roza would play in the forest all day and each day xena would lead Roza a little deeper into the forest. Roza liked it, she liked seeing new parts of the forest and she didn't care that it got dark because every night xena would take Roza back home to her parents. Her parents were mad that she kept staying out in the forest during the night because they knew it was dangerous. Roza tried talking to her parents and told them about xena but they didn't believe her. They had no choice but to keep her from going back to the woods. This made Roza sad.

For the next week Roza wasn't allowed back into the forest. Each night she would cry herself to sleep thinking that she would loose her best friend xena. So one night Roza laid in her bed crying when there was a slight tap on the window. When she looked over she say xena. Roza was instantly filled with joy and happiness. Xena said that she missed Roza and she wanted to play again. Roza said she wasn't allowed back in the forest again. After a bit of persuasion the two of the, came up with a plan for them to be together again and they can have fun. Xena left and Roza went to bed with a smile in her face. The next day went by and it was time for xena and Roza to execute their clever plan.

In the later hours of the day when Roza's parents were at the market getting groceries for dinner tonight Roza was going to escape. Her parents had hired a baby sitter though since they are usually off at work, but the baby sitter was a horrible stallion. He would ignore Roza and he drank constantly. Luckily Roza usually was in the woods so she didn't have to put up with him too often. Roza went downstairs into the livingroom to see the babysitter sitting In a chair passed out with a bottle of alcohol in his hoof. Roza smiled at her chance and crept past the babysitter. She such outside and laughed and giggled as she ran away into the forest.

She ran into the forest and was rejoined by xena. Rosa knew that when her parents got back home and saw she wasn't their they would be furious. Roza didn't want to go back though, she wanted to stay in the forest with xena. Xena told Roza about a magical pixie city where she can run and laugh and play in the woods whenever she wanted and nopony would stop her. Being a young filly Roza was open to the idea and was with xena every step of the way. Xena, however, wasn't who she claimed to be... She would have other plans for the foolish filly. Roza's parents were right when they told her that the forest was dangerous at night, and now she is going to see why.

So xena lead Roza into the forest deeper than she ever imagined. It was late at night now and everything was dark. But Roza wasn't afraid, she had xena with her. As long as they were together nothing could happen to her. Eventually they came across a cave that was dug into a very large and steep hill. Xena lead Roza through the cave telling her that the pixie city was at the end of the cave. They both walked through the dark cave and soon they came into a large open room in the cave. There were large steps leading down to some kind of reflective pool. There were large glowing crystals on the walls and ceiling that lit the room up and all kinds of plants and mushrooms grew along the cavern. Xena lead Roza over to the pool.

Roza walked up to the pool and looked at her own reflection in the water. Xena snuck up behind her... And pushed poor Roza into the water. Roza screamed as she fell in and was engulfed in the water. The pixie laughed in a sadisctic and cruel voice much different from the one Roza was used to. Roza tried to swim out of the water... But it seemed endless. Soon the water turned black around her and she started screaming. The darkness of the water was drowning her. Dark tendrils rose up from the abyss below her and held her down. All  
This time the pixie laughed at the child's suffering and screams of pain, help, and betrayal.

Dark tentacles rose up from the ground and tore her black dress she was wearing for the month of the dead celebration. It was cut and torn and soon the tentacles reached her. They cut into her flesh and tore away at her skin as she screamed and cried in pain. Two dark claws emerged from the darkness. They inched closer to her face and tore out her eyes. She screamd even louder in pain and was crying uncontrollably. The darkness entered her and tore her apart. Se was torn in half, not physically... But spiritually. Her fur faded to grey and her hair was stained black. The light was ripped from her and she was left with only darkness and hate. She was thrown from the water beated, broken, tortured, and bleeding from every inch of her body. She was crying now. She didn't have her eyes, so there were no tears. Her cries were a mix of devastation, pain, betrayal, and utter and soul rushing defeat.

The only friend had just thrown her away and tortured her. She should have listened to her mother and father, now she is broken and without light or happiness. The pixie flew around the crying and suffering child mocking her, calling her names like stupid, and idiot. The pixie only added insult to injury. But not to the pixies knowing the darkness that had entered her was giving her power. Soon her sadness and suffering turned to untold anger and rage. She began screaming out in fury as the caves shook and the earth trembled. The child let out a fierce shout and in one fell swoop released a hidden darkness that was buried for as long as time itself. The entire forest, even the village that the girl called home was engulfed in darkness.

Every living thing was swallowed whole by her shadows. Animals, plants and ponies alike were ravaged by the dark tendrils and claws she hid in her darkness. Nothing survived, she even feasted upon her parents who were at home crying over their lost daughter. Nothing survived, not even the fairy who Roza had trusted to be her friend. Once the darkness settle the only thing left was the dirt ground and the blood soaked ruins of the forest and the village. She let out one more shout of fury and with it a large beam of dark energy fired up into the air and broke through the car vent ceiling revealing the night sky. Full of hatred and sadness she left the cave and would haunt these woods for all of time. She would no longer be known as Alba Roza. She would be known as Nightshade, The Lady Of The Dark.

Then... One morning. The night had finally cleared, everything was silent. The sun rose up a over the hole in the cave. The suns light shone down into the cave and the light hit the pool of water. The black water now shone a bright white and glowed furiously. And from the water... Emerged another little filly. The light that was taken from Roza had also been given a physical form. I little white hoof emerged from the water and pulled up the rest of the girl. Whe was soaking wet with blue eyes and long brown hair. The little filly rose up from the water and crawled up onto the shore. She coughed and choked and cried. She was lost, confused. She was Roza... But not the real Roza. She was the light taken from Roza. She had all the same memories and experiencs, she remembers all the pain and the betrayal. She laid there and cried.

Thus the sisters were born Into this world. They were unable to touch each other since they must forever remain separated. They would go on their own paths. The lady of the dark, nightshade would go on and terrorize anypony who should go outside into the forest at night. Roza would heal anypony who survived and encounter with nightshade. She looked at them as sisters, but they were the same poor pony who was betrayed and suffered unjustly. They cannot harm each other since they are the same and must be forever separated. If Roza is slain, then nightshade will continue to live on. But if nightshade is slain then Roza will die with her.

Roza finished her story and looked at me with her blue eyes. I sat there and stared at her in shock and awe. That was certainly one hell of a story. I could feel the truth in her, she isn't lying. She looked at me with regret and sorrow. I could see the memories of that horrifying night flash through her eyes and I felt the pain she did. She looked like she was going to cry. She had her head down and she sniffed back her tears. I placed my hoof under her muzzle and picked her head up. She looked at me with curiosity and then smiled like she could take it, but telling this story was eating her up inside, I could feel it.

" don't worry Roza..." I said. " I'll be sure to put the two of you to rest and end your suffering." I said making her smile.

" thank you hero... I knew from the second I sensed your energy I knew that only you had a light bright enough to silence the darkness that has consumed Alba for so long."

" I'll make sure it happens... But right now I need to find my friends before it gets dark." I said.

" you needn't worry about her attacking you again." Said Roza. " as long as my light in inside of you she can't touch you, but it will only draw her ever so closer to you." She said. " I need to know, are you ready to kill her if you must?" She asked. I smiled at her.

" don't worry..." I said standing up and flashing my wings out to the side. I flashed with bright light and my armor materialized across my body and my whole being started to glow vibrantly. " I can handle it,vi promise I will end her suffering."

" thank you hero..." She said.

" I have to ask so wing of you..." I said, she just nodded and gestured for me to continue. " my friends were taken by bandits... I need to know where they are."

" ahh I thought you would ask that." She said. " they must be at aurora right now." She said.

" what is that?" It asked.

" it's the next town over, it seen overrun by bandits a long time ago and it has been turned into a bandit city. They are probably there in the old dungeon." She said getting up and whistling as the other stallion exited the woods. They both walked up to the cart. " make haste hero... They are in danger... Go." She said. I smiled as Roza got up and got back on her cart. The other stallion got on too and they started heading off. She smiled and waved to me as she left and I waved too. Once they were gone I looked up to the sky and saw it was getting dark now. I smiled at the opportunity and started walking down the road. I picked up my pace and started to bolt down the trail, and soon I shot my wings out on either side And took off into the air. As I flew onward the sunlight fled the earth and night ashes over. In the distance I could see a bright village surrounded by a large wooden fence. I was very determined to get there until I heard something.

" hello my love..." Said a female voice from all angles. My eyes struck and suddenly something wrapped around my hind leg and pulled me to the ground. I fell down and yelled out in shock as I rocketed towards the ground. I hit the ground with a thud and a shout of pain as I bounced back a little and slid. I came to a stop and pulled myself up off the ground. It was much darker now in the forest. And out of the darkness I saw a figure start to walk out and take shape. It was nightshade, she walked out with tentacles of black shadow wriggling around her. " my love... Your eyes, there is light in them." She said with a confused voice. She let out a gasp and then glared at me with a rather angry face. " Roza, you've been with Roza..." She said.

" yes... And with her help you can't touch me." I said.

" I can't take the light from you..." She said lashing out a few tentacles that wrapped around my neck and held me up. " that doesn't mean I still can't touch you." I struggled to get free but the darkness was too strong. I let out a shout and burst into a bright ball of light. The shadows around my neck vanished and nightshade let out a scream of pain. " AAAHHHH. THE LIGHT BURNS." She shouted.

" leave me be..." I said glaring at her as I dropped back to the ground on my four hooves.

" that can't happen..." She said. " I love you too much to leave you xena." She said

" xena?" I said softly.

" we can be friends forever." She said.

" no we can't alba..." I said.

"DON'T SAY THAT NAME!" She shouted furiously as her black tentacles lashed out violently and cut down every tree around us. The darkness ripped the trees into shreds and stained the ground black. My shining light kept me protected.

" I know who you are alba..." I said she screamed again. " you don't have to be so angry." I said. She let out another scream and was washed over with darkness when it faded her red glowing eyes were gone and her body was covered in tears and open wounds, different from the other ones. There was almost no part of her body that was torn open, and her eyes. Instead of having eyes there were just two dark and bloody holes that stared at me with hatred.

" SILENCE..." She commanded. " I will tear the light from you and watch you suffer for all the pain you've put me through." She yelled. She was washed over with darkness again and when the dark faded she changed. She... She was a filly now. Black tentacles waved around her. Instead of being angry now,vs he was crying. She was only just a child, despite from her being over 500 years old. The darkness around her faded and she was on the ground crying. Her gown fixed itself and the wounds on her body healed except for the claw marks across both of her eyes. Her eyes returned too and glowed bright red with tears rolling down them. She sat there crying and bawling. I looked at her and saw the suffering in her, it was killing me on the inside.

I walked over to her and she sat there crying making a pool of tears on the ground. The shadows around her faded and I stood right in front of her. I brought up a tendril of light to strike her down and she looked up at me. Her eyes connected with mine and I stared at her with a look of guilt and apology. I was just about to lash out at her, when I saw something... A spark. In her eyes there was light, a faint light that seemed to bond her to sanity. She was so afraid of ever being hurt again that she would kill others before they could hurt her. But now that she has met somepony who she can't kill for the first time, she feels afraid. And she and every reason to, I was planning to kill her, I was just about to do it too... But I won't... I can't. Some of it is because she is a child, but mostly that she doesn't deserve any more pain, there must be another way.

" alba..." I said as the tendrils of light beside me lowered into the ground. She looked at me with big eyes and she grew quieter as she listened up to what I had to say. " I'm not going to hurt you... I want to help you." I said. She looked at me with surprise.

" how?..." She asked still sniveling with watery eyes.

" we can find a way..." I said talking in a very fatherly voice, and suddenly all the darkness seemed to fade from her and she looked like a normal filly. She leapt towards me and grabbed onto my hoof. " we can find a way alba, I'll put an end to your sadness, I promise." I said picking her up with my wings.

" thank you..." She said looking at me with her big red eyes. I smiled and placed her on my back. She sat down and held on to my shoulders and smiled. She rested her head on my back and I walked onward. We pressed forward towards the light of the bandit camp that use to be a city. We walked on and on and about a few hours passed until the camp came into view. The large wooden gates remained shut with guards on the top of the wooden fortress walls. I stopped as to remain hidden in the dark of night. The light didn't seem to bother alba who had just woken up. She looked at the bandit camp and just gave an blank stare towards it. Normally I wouldn't just charge in there with a child on my back, but this isn't just a normal child. " what are we doing here?" Se asked.

" I need to save my friends." I said

" did the bandits take them?" She asked.

" yes, they did." I said.

" I can't help you in the light..." She said. " but if you can take out the torches and lanterns then I can help." She said. Even though she was a child with a child's voice, she spoke like an adult.

" alright... We can try and sneak in, I have some tricks of my own." I said smiling. I crept into the thick of the woods and started making my way through the trees and bushes keeping an eye on the whole city. It wasn't as huge as I thought it was, but it was pretty big, and all of it is crawling with bandits probably. After crawling around through the forest I circled to the side of the city. I focused my magic and cloaked me and alba. She looked over herself and I and figured out we were invisible and she smiled. I made my way rough the bushes and just passed through them like a ghost. I trotted over to the wooden wall and dashed right through it. I phased through to the other side and looked around.

There were wooden houses and building with signs and ponies walking around. It looked like a normal town. There were mares and children everywhere, but any stallions that I saw were bandits... This interested me. Flags fluttered in the wind and they had two black swords crossed on a red background. This must be a bandit city. These mares are the wives, and the children will probably grow up to be bandits themselves. I started to notice some of the mares were bandits as well. They all wore leather like armor and walked around with smiles on their faces.

At first I was going to level the whole place to the ground... But I'm not sure if I can go through with that anymore. All the ponies were walking around and talking and I just trotted down the street passing through ponies unseen. I trotted through the streets looking for the dungeon. I ran around and soon something caught my eye. It was like some kind of miniature castle made of cobblestone and iron. If I had to guess there must be a king of this bandit city, and at the castle there must be a dungeon. I snuck my way over and past the guards standing in front of it.

I walked around and looked about for something that looked like a dungeon entrance. There was a lack of ponies here at this point but I kept cloaked. I walked around looking high and low but I saw nothing. Alba hung onto my shoulders and she looked around too. Before I moved any further I heard the sound of hoofsteps coming closer and I stopped and waited for them. Once the hoofsteps grew close enough I saw two ponies walking down the hallway. One of them was in plain leather armor and he was talking to the other pony. He looked rather more fancy than the other bandits with silver trimmed leather armor with a rather fancy and decorated sword. But he looked nothing compared to the other pony.

The other pony, who I will automatically presume is the king of the city was huge. He had a scared and blind eye which he didn't try and cover up. He was overly massive with ridiculously large muscle mass. I swear I could feel the ground shake slightly every time he took a simple step. He had red fur with dirty blonde hair. He looked strangely like big Macintosh. He was smoking a cigar in his mouth and he showed his teeth which weren't the whitest teeth ever. He was wearing huge black iron armor with spikes on the shoulder pads and spines on the back. On his hilt was a large broad sword that looked like it could cut down several trees in one swing, especially if he is swinging it.

"Tell me guile, about these ponies crew seven brought in today." He said in a deep booming voice which echoed through the hallway. I stayed silent and listened as he had caught my attention now. Hopefully these two will lead me to my friends. I decided to follow them.

" well there were four ponies there, two of them were adventurers." He said. " the other two seemed to be foreigners." He said. " I fact, they were all foreigners."

" foreigners huh... Good, we don't get many of those around here." He said.

" and I think you will be pleased to know one of them is a mare, a purple unicorn." He said.

" oh really now..." He said with sultry look in his eyes and a lick of his chops. " what of the other three?"

We fought two of them, and one of the adventurers managed to survive an arrow to the neck... The other one didn't however." He said.

" is he the one that caused trouble?" Asked the king.

" uhm... Yes..." Said the other pony. " he had some kind of magic with him and he massacred at least two thirds of squad seven. If he wasn't blind then he probably would have killed us all." He said.

" he was blind?" Asked the king.

" yes, had a blindfold over his eyes, probably ran into the dark lady." He said.

" are the other three down in the dungeon right now?" He asked

" yes..." Said the pony. " we made sure nopony touched the mare before you got the first turn." He said.

" good... You've done well, especially with all the money they were carrying."

" t-thank you, king borrim." Said the pony. King borrim huh... They began to head towards some door and I walked close behind them. They entered through a large iron door and walked down a large set of stairs into a deep dungeon, which was still well lit. I followed them down the stairs. They closed the door in my face but I passed through and followed them. They remained silent the whole way down and they leveled off onto a corridor. I followed them down the corridor and they stopped at a door to out left. They opened up they door and walked in. The king barely fit through. I entered by passing through the wall and we all walked into a large open room. It was a large cell built for multiple ponies. There I saw my friends. Twilight, thunder, and martukus. They where chained down to the floor. I'm glad I made it when I did. If I had known that they were planning on raping twilight I would have been here much earlier, but luckily I made it in time.

" let us go you bastards, you have our money... Let us go." Said martukus who seemed much better since last I saw him. Thunder didn't look too well. He was on the ground laying still. I froze for a second thinking he was dead. But he was fine, I could still sense his energy, it was still strong, but he wasn't in the best condition. It looks like they had tortured him, he was covered in cuts and blood.

" please let us go..." Said twilight. " for your sake, before crimson gets here and burns this place to the ground." She said rattling her chains.

" you mean that poor sod that wiped out two thirds of my crew... No no, I don't think he's going to be going anywhere for a while." Said the other pony.

" you have no idea what you've gotten yourself into." She said rattling her chains some more. I stood in the room thinking of a plan. I looked back over my shoulder to alba and she looked at me. We both were thinking the same thing and she smiled and nodded telling me to go on with the plan. I smiled and focused my energy. I focused and forced and strong breeze from out of nowhere. The wind shuttered through the dungeon and everypony started looking around in shock.

" where is this wind coming from?" Asked the king. " we're underground In a dungeon." He shouted getting angry at nothing. I forced the wind to pick up and all the torches that were posted on the walls suddenly all extinguished and the whole dungeon was filled with darkness. Alba crawled off ,y back and covered herself in darkness and when she was visible again she was a full grown mare again. She gave me a wink and started to head forward to the two bandits. I could tell from the screams outside of the cell I was hiding in that she was already at work massacring the bandits in the halls. The king and the other bandit looked around with horror in their eyes.

Once alba made herself present the feeling of shock fired throughout the room. I made myself visible again and watched in the safety of dark. The king and the other bandit looked at her with horror, mostly the other bandit. Without notice alba lashed out a whip of shadows and it wrapped around his neck. She pulled him back towards her and whipped him at the wall behind her. He made impact with the wall right next to me and filled the room with a Thud and a crack. He dropped to the droid dead after already cracking the wall.

" oh no you don't..." Said the king. " you won't get me." He said. He pulled something out from a satchel in his armor and held it up. It looked like... A flare. He pulled the top off and swiped it against the wall and it shone brightly. Alba let out a yell because the light was burning her in her shadow like form. She let out cries of pain and I disappeared before the light could reveal me. I crept over and I had come up with a plan. I focused all of my energy and pull all the darkness in the dungeon over to me. Alba let out another cry of pain as shadows washed over her and when they faded she was just a child again. " a child..." Said the king, he laughed. " ha...a child is the lady of the dark... Hahaha." He said laughing aloud. "No need to be afraid of the dark now." He said walking up to alba who was shaking on the ground.

" Don't be too sure..." I said in a dark, evil voice. I rose up from the darkness and loomed up over alba and even the king. I used my imagination to make myself look as horrifying as possible. I grew to massive size and covered myself in darkness. The darkness dripped off me like slime and I stared down at the king. My eyes wide open and glowing white and my slimy mouth was hanging open showing several rows of razor sharp teeth. I flicked out a forked tongue and learned forward. Large tendrils and tentacles burst from my back and writhed around the room. The room seemed to ice over with a dreadful chill. Even my friends looked at me with gripping horror and fear. I slunk down over alba in a protective state and stared at the king with a sadistic looking smile spread over my face. The darker parts of my mind started to pull away at my thinking and to keep up my looks I lashed out my tentacles and wrapped them around the king.

I pulled him into my darkness and he kicked and screamed and pleaded. I sucked him into the darkness and tore him to pieces. The room splattered with his blood and entrails. I dropped the lifeless mass of raw and bloody meat that used to be the bandit king. He hit the ground with a squish and I began to cool off. I sucked all the darkness out of the room and used it to refill my energy. The torches relit themselves with the help of my magic and I shrunk back down to size. The black slime I covered myself with washed away and started to make way for my white glowing armor. I looked over to my friends who stared at me with awe and I winked at them. I walked over to alba and she reached out for me like a child. I smiled and picked her up. She washed the tears from her eyes and I placed her on my back. I turned to my friends and smiled as my armor faded and alba kept her head on my back resting.

" is that?" Twilight stuttered before I answered her question.

" yes, this is alba Roza, the lady of the dark..."

-Authors Note: well... hows that for character development. i think alba Roza (The Lady Of The dark) may be one of the more interesting characters ive ever made. and little Roza's story wasn't the only interesting thing in there. this nifty little bandit camp, more folklore of stallasia, and even some stallasian language thrown in there... huh...huh? i thought it was pretty good for just making up a language all on my own. it's probably not going to stay very consistent or dynamic... but it will hold. so i gave you guys a delightful back story that i thought fit in ever so perfectly with her character. i had lots of fun witting this chapter. and originally before my computer crashed i didn't have any of these things, but when it crashed and forced me to rewrite all these chapters i rewrote alba Roza into the story... and i regret nothing. so i hope you enjoyed this new installment. stay shady my friends.-End of Note.-


	45. Chapter 45: Nothings Impossible

" so that little filly..." Said twilight. " that little filly right there... Resting on your back... That little filly is the lady of the dark who blinded you... And speaking of that, how are you able to see now anyway?" She asked as we ran up the staircase of the dungeon and burst through into the castle. I was expecting a crowd, but there was nopony here which was good.

" yeah, I figured that I've got something's to explain." I said.

" you got that right..." Said martukus who had thunder dropped over his back. Thunder was still out and beaten pretty badly, but he will be fine.

" well, that arrow I took to the neck knocked me out." I said leading my friends through the castle slowly. " I was woken up by an old mare named Alba Roza, who is the spirit healer we were talking about. Apparently she sensed me and was out looking for me. She healed me and now I'm all better." I said smiling. Just then we entered a large open room with large pillars and columns rushing down from the roof a ceiling. When we got in there there was a group of bandits all with bows and arrows holding them aimed and heady. They let off the first volley and we dodged out of the way. We each hid behind one of the collumns and we found ourself in a standoff.

" yeah that's great now what about the kid." Said martukus as arrows whirled by the columns. He placed thunder down behind a column to keep him safe and leaned over to fire a bolt of magic at the bandits. It whirled through the air and burst on impact killing at least three bandits.

" this is also Alba Roza." I said. " don't question me now, I'll explain it later. " basically we've got work to do before we head off to the mountain and find the portal."

" great..." Said twilight rolling her eyes. She peaked around the corner of the column and shot a magic bolt from her horn. She's been getting good because the bolt broke through one of the think marble collumns and the whole thing came down killing at least four bandits. I pearled over for a clear shot and fired a magical bolt from I front of me. It lined up perfectly with three bandits for a double collateral. I smiled and ducked back behind cover. I was a little close to the edge and an arrow whirled through the air and snared me on my upper part of my left arm. I let out a grunt of pain and just ignored it for the time being. Alba was hiding behind a large urn close to the column I was hiding behind. She looked at me and I just smiled.

" you know, this is going nowhere fast..." Said martukus.

" I agree..." I said. With that I leaned out from behind my cover and let out a fierce shout. Spikes of dark magic broke up form the ground and tore the room apart in front of us. I did over exceed myself for a second and the spikes tore past the room and into the next and then soon broke out of the castle and tore down the entire middle of the town. That probably shocked and killed a few bandits. " heh... A bit much." I said once the magic finally settled and all that was left was a crumbling building around us. The whole path that my shadows traveled down was torn and broken.

" rolling out the red carpet huh..." Siam martukus grabbing thunder again who was barely conscious. I grabbed alba and she sat down on my back and we went onward.

" more like throwing the black carpet at some ponies face." I said smiling. Martukus chuckled and twilight smiled. We ran down the large scar I just tore in the town. We finally got out of the castle and I saw that the blast tore through the entire town and cut it through in the middle leaving a trail of rubble and debris. We followed the broken trail and ran as fast as we could. Bandits were already at the sides with bows and arrows firing at us. " whatever you do, don't get shot..." I said.

" I'll try and remember that." Said twilight firing a blast of energy towards a few bandits and shoving them back. There was a blockade up ahead made up of carts and bandits. I drifted over next to twilight as we ran and dodged arrows.

" here twilight..." I said getting close. " take alba, I'm going for the blockade." I said.

" oh, uhm... Sure." Se said as I levitated alba onto twilights back. I drifted away and lined up with the center of the blockade which was being added onto as we ran. I started to run and sprint faster and faster. A dome of energy started to build up around me and it glowed bright white. I ran faster and the dome of energy grew brighter and brighter and soon my whole body glowed. Bolts of energy in the form of lightning fired off from me as a way to let the energy escape around me. The ground cracked under my hooves and I blazed a trail of glowing white cracked ground. Each hoofsteps I made was like a miniature earthquake. What I was planning to do might be a bit extreme for just this barricade, but hopefully it will help level is town in the process without hurting my friends. It was a trick I learned in training, I have yet to perfect it, but what I've got so far is pretty good.

As the barrier grew closer it soon became overwhelmed with guards and bandits holding up their swords to strike. From here I could see the look of fear and uncertainty in their eyes. I slowly started to let out a shout of anger as I grew brighter and brighter and ran faster. Now the barricade was only an inch away. One last step and I let out a deep terrifying shout. The dome of light around me burst like a sonic rainbow of pure white light and the halo of energy cut through the ground and the city making a barrier of light. The halo was so bright that it turned this dark night into day. The force of the blast pushed back every house and uprooted every tree. The great wooden fence around the city was blown away and the whole city was leveled.

I sprinted past to the end of the city and quickly hit the breaks destroying the ground under my hooves. I turned around and started sprinting back towards my friends who were unaffected by the blast. The halo remained acting as a wall between me and my friends. I sprinted back still glowing bright white all over with ,y armor now showing and white bolts of energy firing off my body. I sprinted towards the halo and ran faster and faster. This his the one part that I could get, but I have a good feeling. I ran faster and faster towards the halo and I could feel my energy maintaining critical mass, and I smiled.

I made impact with the halo of light and it shattered. There was another shock wave and shards of razor sharp light rained down along the whole city like spears. Spikes of light spouted up and broke through the ground ensuring that anything that survived the first blast, wouldn't be surviving much longer. I smiled and ran through the white spikes I created, passing through them like a ghost. My friends cringed at first to the sight of the spikes but when the spikes passed through them without causing damage they breathed a sigh of relief. Not even Alba was affected by the bright bright light. I ran up to my friends now, no longer glowing or shooting lighting form all inches of my body. I was breathing heavily and my legs were tired. I walked up to the, and smiled. Twilight gave me a smug look and martukus smiled.

" always have to make an appearance don't you..." Said martukus.

" to be honest, Ive been dying to try that for the past month." I said panting heavily with weak knees. I used what little energy I and left to levitate alba over to me and placed her on my back. She smiled and hugged onto me tight as not to slip off.

" well mister show off... I think we should get out of what's left of this city." Said twilight. I smiled and we started walking down what we assumed to be the center of the city towards the forest again. The spikes of light that had broken up from the ground had faded but the shards of the halo remained, those where actually solid masses of light. I looked over and saw a large piece of light sticking out of the ground. I smiled and walked over picking it up. I collected a few of them and held onto them using my magic to levitate them.

" too bad we don't have our bags..." I said.

" you mean these..." Said twilight smiling with her horn glowing. In a puff of smoke three burlap bags appeared out of nowhere seemingly full of materials and money.

" nice..." I said. She passed them out and I put mine on. Alba sat on top of the strap and rode on y, back the whole way. Twilight put hers on and so did martukus. Thunder was still unconscious and moaning slightly. " so you know what happened to him?" I asked gesturing to thunder.

" I think they tortured him..." Said twilight.

" they would have done the same to me if I wasn't still mostly unconscious from having an arrow shot into my neck." Said martukus.

" and I'm certain they were planning on raping me..." Said twilight. " so we really have to thank you for saving us... Though you took your sweet time with it." She said.

" hey... I had something to do." I said gesturing my head towards alba who was now resting peacefully on my back.

" yeah... I knew you wouldn't let anything bad happen." Said twilight. " well... Except for him." She said. " but I don't think they really tortured him, he doesn't have any sever wounds or cuts, and nothing's broken from what I can tell." She said.

" anyway, we should get going now, with the lady of the dark no longer trying to kill us, we can get in a good night of sleep, or at least for the rest of the night." I said.

" sure..." Said martukus.

" hey crimson... What are you doing with those glowing shards?" Asked twilight.

" huh... Oh, these are to refill my energy." I said. " I'm pretty tired after all of that, and concentrated light is actually pretty filling."

" your going to eat light..." Said martukus.

" well... Yeah." I said. " do you guys want some?" I asked.

" uhh... I don't think so." Replied martukus. I shrugged and gestured over to twilight who just looked at me. I held out a small shard of light for her and he just looked at it. She grabbed it with her magic and held it in front of her." how can you have concentrated light?" Asked martukus. " that's impossible."

" not if you know what your doing." I aid winking at him.

" you didn't just..." Stuttered martukus before I answered his question.

" I did." I said smiling. Twilight looked confused.

" so uh... What did you do?" She asked.

" I did something impossible." I said.

" alright... Explain." She said.

" well..." I explained. " there are something that ponies say is impossible because they are incredibly difficult to do. But for somepony like myself this e impossible things are possible with little effort. There are only a few impossible things attaining to certain elements and one of those impossible things is that light cannot be concentrated into solid form... Which I've just done."

" how can you do something that's impossible?" Asked twilight.

" that's a kind of question with no answer." Said martukus. " like trying to define a color without using its name, or explaining the difference between left and right." He said." It simply cannot be explained twilight... But it just happened." I said.

" I can explain this though..." I said.

" do I really want to hear this?" Said twilight nervously smiling.

" don't worry. It's not so complicated for somepony as smart as you." I said. " it works like this..." I said explaining. " time and space work in a sort of graph. Time is represented by the Y axis and Space is the X axis." I said. " time moves in seconds represented by the Y axis and each notch on the X axis is an alternate universe different but somewhat similar to the ones near it."

" alright... A graph... Go on." She said making the picture in her head.

" this one graph so far in only two dimensional. Yet existence is three dimensional. So the third line, the Z axis gives us thickness. Now time and space exist as a flat plane. But those planes are copied over and over again. They are laid down in a cube making existence. But these different copies of the universe are different because they have different REALITIES." I said with emphasis on realities. By now we were just getting out of the rubble reduced city and heading back into the woods.

" alright... Continue." She said.

" in these different realities things can happen that cannot be done here. So in this reality our physics works differently than others. I was able to create a link between this reality and a different one borrowing some of its properties for a short time making me be able to create solid light." I explained.

" okay... I guess that makes sense." Said twilight.

" don't worry about it too much... We should set up here and rest." I said stopping near a dirt circle close to the road.

" alright..." Said martukus placing down thunder near a tree and laying him down to rest. We walked over and placed our things down and we all relaxed. Twilight still had the shard of light floating next to her.

" so what do I do with this?" She asked.

" well you can eat it..." I said. " it's a good source of vitamin D and pure energy that we can't get from any other food source."

" I can... Eat it?" She said.

" it's not going to cut your insides up, it dissolves when you consume it, but solid light is also the most compact material ever known to exist. Which is why I grabbed a lot of it, because only I can work with it." I said.

" is that what your and our is made of?" Asked martukus.

" no... It's just metal that glows." I said. " having armor out of concentrated light would force me to do something impossible every time I need my armor which would literally drain me of all my energy. I don't get tired often, but after doing that I'm exhausted."

" so what exactly does light taste like?" Asked twilight.

" eat it and find out..." I said smiling.

" uhh... Okay." She said. She slowly brought the small shard of glowing energy to her mouth. She opened up and bit her teeth down slowly on the shard of light and her teeth just passed right through it. She chewed it for a bit and soon her eyes grew wide and she smiled. " that's amazing..." She said.

" what's it like?" Asked martukus.

" it's like eating cotton candy, but it taste how sunlight feels on your skin, its literally warming up my insides and its great... Plus, I feel perfectly well rested."

" you should still sleep though." I said. " you can't be perfectly well rested without sleeping."

" yeah... But I feel great." She said.

" here let me try..." Said martukus. Twilight tossed the other half of the light shard to martukus who caught it in one hoof. He looked at it questionably and then opened up wide. He dropped the little shard of light into his mouth and chewed it a little. His eyes too widened and he smiled. " my god... That's amazing." He said.

" you said only you could work with it... What do you mean?" Asked twilight.

" well..." I said grabbing a size able piece of the light that I had floating next to me since it wouldn't fit in the bags. " since the solid light is already in this world I can work with it and change its shape without having to waste all of my energy breaking physics again." I held up the large piece of light and used ,y magic to levitate it in front of all of us. Alba who was sleeping quietly turned over and nuzzled herself into my back and smiled. The shard of light started spinning and twisting until it started to change shape. It became thinner and more condensed and i started to mold it into the shape of a sword. I created the hilt from the light and it started taking shape. I transmuted some of the light into a leather grip around the handle and made the blade long and sharp. Once I was done I hovered the sword over to me and held it and smiled.

" not a bad looking sword." Said martukus.

" thanks..." I said. Placed the sword down next to me and let out a big yawn. Martukus yawned too. " we should get some sleep." I said.

" yeah..." Said twilight. We all agreed and started to get some rest. I laid my head down on my hooves and closed my eyes. I slowly started to drift away in my sleep and found myself in a white world. I looked around, semi conscious wondering where I am. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming, but it didn't feel like it. I walked around for a moment but I never went anywhere. Then suddenly I felt a presence with me in this never ending sea of light. I looked behind me only to see, to my surprise, Roza, the mare who healed me. She looked at me and smiled and when I saw her too I have to admit that I smiled too. I blinked my eyes for a second and when I saw her after, she was different. She was a little filly now, looked just like Alba but with Different colors and blue eyes.

" hello crimson..." She said.

" hello alba." I said.

" no... It's just Roza, Alba is my other half." She said. " I'm proud of you, it takes courage to give somepony such as myself a second chance, and I admire that."

" are you talking about alba?" It asked.

" yes..." She replied. " you didn't strike her down. You've helped ease our suffering... But to put us both to rest there is one thing I must ask of you." She said.

" whatever you need... I will help." I said.

" you must take her to the mirror pool in the ruins of her hometown." She said. " I will be waiting there for you, and when you get there you must throw the both of us in..." She said.

" and then you will become whole again..." I said finishing the story.

" yes... And once we are together we can rest." She said.

" where is your hometown?" I asked.

" you'll find it on the map..." She said backing away into the light and slowly fading. " just remember... X marks the spot." She said until she was gone now and the white around me faded to black. I slowly began to slip away and fell asleep and landed in a world of dreams. That thought still followed me through my dreams. I though about Alba and Roza and knew that even though its out of the way, I still need to help.

I promised to help anypony who needs it...

-Authors Note: Okay, i know this chapter was very short... but it originally wasn't originally supposed to happen. let me explain. during my spare time i created a few events/ more information on Crimsons 1000 years of training. and one of those explained the impossibilities that i mentioned in the chapter... but i ended up scrapping the idea. plus... it, kinda was lost forever when my computer crashed. but i figured to introduce it in slowly. so this chapter is just a leading chapter for whats next.

ALSO... the journey to Alba Roza's destroyed home and the mirror pool is not going to take forever, im going to do that up quickly and then get the gang the FUCK out of there. this world is taking too long and I'm very anxious to go to the new dimensions because i have such deliciously evil ideas for those worlds. so i can give you the layout. the next to chapters are going to be big... but by the end of the second chapter the journeys in this dimension are over. next chapter will be about Alba Roza the chapter after that will end with the four hero's entering the portal, or whatever i decide it should be. so sorry if i spoiled anything for you guys, but i tried not to and i dont think i really did... but sorry. anyway, stay shady bro's.-End of Note-


	46. Chapter 46: Two Become One

**-WARNING-**

**the following chapter contain explicit material not suitable for younger audiences. if you do not wish to see such things then please wash your retinas with any household bleaching agent thoroughly. if not then continue**

**you have been warned**

-Authors Note: oh look another pre-chapter authors note, that means this is going to be good. so anyway, i have created what i believe is the biggest, greatest, most extremely awesome, chapter to end all chapters. over 30,000 words, single spaced, size 12 font... you are about to read that now. i shall not reveal anything of the chapter at hand but it is pretty awesome though. but as you can see up above there is explicit material, this chapter has everything... so enjoy, and stay shady.-End of Note-

I slowly started to wake up to the sultry sound of birds chirping and the wind howling around us. As I slowly opened my eye lids light started to flood in and after being blind for a short period of time it was a bit of a change having the ability to see in the bright day like this, but it didn't take long for me to get used to it and wake up. I rolled over onto my stomach and sat up a bit woozy and still somewhat tired. The sword of light I had created still shining and glowing next to me. Using my magic I form a magical steel sheath and a belt attached to my side and slid the sword into it… perfect fit. The sword stopped at the hilt making a soft click and I let it go, and it hung there soundly. I let out a fierce yawn and rubbed my eyes which helped me adjust better to the light.

I looked around and slowly got up onto my four hooves. I felt something slide against the side of my flank and I stood up. Wondering what it was I looked over to see little Alba Roza had been sleeping up against me the whole time. I was afraid that for a second I had woke her up but she remained still and laid there peacefully. Almost hard to believe somepony like her could kill others and rip their eyes out. I do forget that she does have the mind set of an adult, seeing as she is actually older than most adults, but she still is a filly at heart. I smiled at her and walked onward toward the road to check the area and get my bearings. I stepped out onto the road and I heard a soft squish and noticed the ground under my hooves was soft and slimy. I looked down to see that the ground was wet and had been reduced to mud. I looked down both sides of the road to see that the whole trail was that way. Even the surrounding trees were wet and covered in droplets of water.

I looked back towards the little circle of dirt we decided to sleep in last night and saw that it was dry as bone. I stood there for a second pondering how we remained dry when it obviously must have rained last night. There weren't any trees above us to shield us from the rain, and that one spot, including us, couldn't have been completely untouched by the raining storm. I know that I didn't do it, I don't think twilight did it either, thunder… well he was knocked the fuck out… Martukus maybe? It could have been him, but it doesn't seem like he could be the kind of guy to perform an elemental magic like that, especially in his sleep. As I looked closer to out circle I noticed a perfect ring around the dry area that was much wetter than the surrounding area, suggesting that there must have been some kind of physical barrier around us that moved the rain away. A shield maybe… twilight could have done that.

I was letting my mind wander and soon I caught on. I pulled myself away from the subject and decided to worry about it if it should present a point of interest later on, though I'm sure to be questioned on it later. It wouldn't even take a filly to notice what happened. As I turned back to the circle of dry dirt I stopped by a large puddle and looked down at it. The puddle was still and very reflective. I looked in and I could see my own reflection in the water. My hair was a mess. I didn't want to use my hooves to straighten my hair because they were all muddy so I used my wings to straighten it out. Once it was all neat looking, sort of, I caught a glimpse at my wings. They were in horrible condition. I can't remember the last time I preened my wings. I think… it was a year ago. I brought my right wing over and reached around and started to preen my wings.

I used my teeth to pull and push all the feathers in place and ripped out some of the older ones. I spit out all the old feathers on the ground and fixed my wing. Once that one was done I flapped it a bit and the difference was tremendous. I began preening the other wing and did the same. I placed all the feathers back in place and tore out the old ones. It didn't take too long and I was done in about a few minutes. I still stood by the puddle and flapped my wings and could feel the difference. I looked back into the reflective puddle and decided to smile and check my teeth while I was on the subject of personal maintenance. I smiled widely and couldn't find a thing wrong with my teeth. They were blindingly white and perfectly aligned. I never did have a problem with dental hygiene, but you would think that with my life style it would be a problem, but it isn't, probably partly because I'm a god… well, it's probably all because I'm a god. I checked myself over once more in the water. I still had the scars over my face and body. Still have that gash in my ear from a long time ago when I was jumped in an alleyway… everything was in check. For the first time I felt like I was myself again, and I like it.

"NO! Get away from that!" yelled a small voice from close by my side.

"Huh?" I murmured turning my head to see Alba running towards me with the look of worry in her eyes. She smashed right into me probably in the hopes to shove me out of the way like I was going to get hit by a train or something. She tried her best to push me out of the way of something but there was nothing around for me to be afraid of. I bent gown and picked her up with my wings and placed her on my back trying to get her to calm down. She seemed so upset I thought that she was going to cry. "What's the matter Alba?" I asked.

"Don't look into the water… get away from it." She said almost about to cry. She must be talking about the puddle. Without wasting time I made the connection between the puddle and the reflecting pool she was pulled into.

"Hey hey calm down..." I said grabbing her again and holding her. Luckily she did start to calm herself down. I felt like a father trying to calm his crying child. "It's okay, nothing going to happen; it's just a bit of rain water…see?" I said splashing my hoof into the puddle of water. She had her hooves covering her eyes and slowly peaked out from behind her hooves to look over. "see… nothing happened." I said. "its going to be fine."

"are you sure…?" she asked.

"im sure… now come on… your mane is a mess." I said stating the truth, she had horrible bed head. I flung her hair around a bit with my hoof playfully and she giggled.

"What are you two doing over here?" asked twilight who apparently was up now… damn I've got to keep track of my surroundings. She walked over and I smiled. I looked past her and saw Martukus and thunder were getting up too. Martukus had to help thunder get his bearings after last night.

"Just looking into a puddle." I said.

"A puddle…" said twilight. "When did it rain?"

"Last night I guess." I said.

How did we not get wet?" she asked. I just shrugged and placed Alba on my back again. She giggled a bit more and I stepped a bit closer to the puddle.

"why are you so afraid of me looking into this puddle?" I asked alba who wasn't very concerned anymore, but her mood did change when presented with the question,

"Well… its dangerous." She said. I looked at her with an expression that pressured her to explain further. "I just don't want the demons in the water to take you." She said. "they escaped with me that night at the mirror pool… so I've been afraid of water ever since I can remember."

"well those demons can only hurt us at night… and it's a beautiful morning and this was just a small night shower… that somehow completely missed us." I said jokingly looking back at the dry campground we rested in. she smiled and bit and peered over my shoulder to look into the water and at her reflection.

"Is my mane really a mess?" she asked. It might have been even worse when I decided to mess it up further.

"See for yourself." I said getting closer to the puddle and leaning down so she could get a good view of herself without the glare from the sun up above us. She was standing on my back now peering over my shoulder and twilight just watched us from a distance smiling too. I leaned a bit closer and soon I could see the both of us in the reflection. She smiled along with me and I looked over to her. She looked at me and giggled knowing her hair was a bit ruffled up from the night. Suddenly there was a loud splash and something wrapped itself around my neck and pulled hard.

"Oh fuck…!" I exclaimed getting pulled towards the ground. Alba screamed as she fell of my back and a deep rumbling was heard from all around us. Once the shock of the situation was over I looked to see what was happening. There was a large black tentacle spouting out from the puddle, which was very shallow mind you. It tried pulling me in but I had quickly planted my hooves on the ground and pulled back. I started getting a bit of leeway but another tentacle shot out and wrapped itself around my chest and back and started to pull me too. My hooves began to slide on the muddy ground and I was inching closer to the large but shallow puddle. Twilight was freaking out calling over Martukus and thunder who were rushing over to help and Alba was running away from the wet ground around us into the dry zone. She got there and stared over in horror. I kept pulling back the demon or monster trying to pull me into the puddle and managed to start getting more leeway and pulling back despite the wet and slimy ground.

Twilight and the others rushed over but I quickly used my magic to force them back not wanting them to get pulled in too knowing they aren't as strong as I am. Soon another tentacle rose up from the water. It didn't shoot out to grab me like the last one but it slowly rose up and towered over me. I was in an awkward bending position trying to get pulled into the water so I could just barely look up and see it. It snaked up and curved towards me. Soon it sharpened into some kind of scythe blade made of black metal. The blade thrust down and pierced through me causing me to let out a gagged scream of pain as well as forcing blood out of my mouth and into the ground. It had stabbed through the mid right side of my back and out the other side of my chest and into the ground. The blade quickly pulled out of me and for one second I grew weak from the pain, and that one weakness was enough for the tentacles to pull me forward into the puddle.

At first I was afraid I was going to be pulled through the puddle into some kind of dark void, like a portal. But I just got launched forward into the puddle and hit the ground and was submerged into the puddle I was on my stomach not with the tentacles on the back of my neck and upper back. They pulled harder like trying to force me into the ground. I let out a few cries of pain from my wound which only came up as bubbled screams since my snout was submerged in water now. I could hear my name being called but it was faint over the sound of my thrashing and yells of pain. I tried forcing myself back up but it wasn't easy. I let out a fierce shout and surrounded myself in a powerful blast of light that lit up everything brighter than day. Once the light faded I still felt the pressure on my neck and back, it didn't work.

I tried pulling myself back up again and managed to start to make progress moving upward. A few more tentacles rose up from the ground and waved like fire around me. One of them lashed me over the back like a whip and I let out a shriek of pain before the tentacles pulled me back down to the ground with force and smashed the underside of my jaw into the wet mud, which didn't feel very pleasant. There was another whip across my back and I let out another shriek of pain. Once again one of the tentacles sharpened into a scythe like blade a stabbed me through the top of my left flank and pierced out through my lower stomach horrifyingly close to my junk. Before I could let out my own scream of pain I heard another shriek, or I should say more like a cry. Thinking the worse, that the others were in danger, I shot my gaze over to see the others past the tentacles spinning around me.

I looked over to see that my friends were completely unharmed. They hadn't moved out of the safe dry zone but looked over at me with worried looks. Martukus had a concerned look on his face, but I felt that he was concerned about why I hadn't finished this yet, well it isn't easy. After doing that impossible feat last night I'm still pretty drained. Plus it's too early in the morning to be dealing with this shit right now. I looked to see that the cries had been coming from Alba who was being held back by twilights hoof. She was reaching out like she was going to grab my hoof. She was crying with tears down her eyes trying to get passed twilight to come and help me. For a second my vision began to fade… and in her place I saw dawn, my own little baby girl, standing there watching her father… and I lost it.

Another sharpened tentacle stabbed me again going through the left side of my back and out the right and I let out a scream of pain that turned into a cry of anger. I grit my teeth and planted my hooves on the ground, at this point I had completely lost my cool, which doesn't happen often. I often roar whenever I prepare a large attack because it's intimidating, this time I was roaring because I was mad… and god was I MAD! I let out a low growl and my hooves began slipping around the mud beneath me, but I kept my stance solid. I flexed every muscle in my body to keep myself up and the symbols on my body started to show, glowing a strange white/ purple color. From the symbols small streams of lightning started sparking around me. Miniature bolts of electricity would spark off one part of my body and connect with another part of my body. Up above the sky soon started to fade and the once nice and sunny morning sky was blotted out by dark and ominous clouds that seemed to appear out of thin air. They swirled around in a cyclone right above me before completely covering the whole sky.

Then… there was a single drop of rain. It fell down and landed right on the bridge of my nose in-between my eyes, Then another and another. Soon it was lightly raining from above and the puddle around us began to ripple and wave. I kept letting out a low growl like a tiger or lion growling at an enemy. I tried pulling myself back but it wasn't working. Soon my eyes started to glow the same whitish purple as the symbols and markings on my body. There was a flash in the sky quickly followed by a booming thunder which seemed to cripple the tentacles because for that one second I was able to pull back a few inches easily, but they kept hold and pulled me right back in. another tentacle lashed out at me and hit my back like a whip. I let out a cry of pain and at the same instance a bolt of lightning fired down from the dark cyclone in the air and the world flashed and was filled with a thundering boom. This was another thing that I learned in my training. This wasn't just a regular storm that I had summoned out of thin air…no. this was my storm.

I let out a thunderously fierce roar as bolt after bolt of lightning fired down from the eye of the storm and struck everywhere around me. The lightning came down in rapid fire succession and covered me in a cylinder of lightning. I kept letting out my fierce shout as rouge bolts of lightning soon began to fire off from random spots in the cyclone and strike the ground under them, acting like normal lightning. If you ever heard of the expression, lightning storm, well you have no idea. The tentacles around me seemed to liquefy from the intensity of the lightning. The lightning was so strong that the heat of it actually began to break the ground under our hooves and leave scorch marks on the dry dirt one all the wet mud was flung out of the way from the force of the lightning. I let out another loud shout as the cylinder of lightning I surrounded myself with burst outward creating a dome of electricity that pressed forward and probably cleared the whole forest of any rain. I did manage to keep a level enough head to have it pass by my friends and any woodland creatures in the area without affecting them.

The electrical discharge in the air slowly started to fade and the clouds up above vanished as sunlight slowly started to seep in through the cracks until it was shining completely on the forest. The trees were charred black but none of them burned. The ground all around me was black as night and so was the spots that lightning struck the ground. I sat there breathing heavily as my anger started to fade and my body slowly began to glow less and less. Once the air around me had finally settled and the day returned to normal I stood there with blood leaking out from all around me and large gashes and whip marks running across my back. My whole body stung like you wouldn't believe, it burnt like fire. The puddle that once existed had completely evaporated from the lightning. The blasts of lightning had flung mud everywhere and I was covered in blood and mud. Twilight, Alba, and the others remained untouched. I slowly took a few steps back staring down at the ground somewhat relived and shocked at the same time. I leaned back and sat down on the now completely dry ground. Next thing I did was lean back even more and fall onto my back and just stare up into the sky. This signaled the others to start running over to make sure I was alright.

"Crimson!" shouted twilight as she always does in that worried and concerned voice. It had become a very familiar expression to me. She and the others rushed over to my bleeding and beaten body lying on the ground. I just kept taking in deep breaths through my mouth. Soon my vision of the sky was blotted out by the familiar faces of my friends.

"crimson are you okay?" asked thunder placing his hooves on my chest and searching my wounds for any kind of lethal damage, I'm sure they were all lethal blows, but still.

"yeah yeah…" I said trying to get him off me.

"I'll be fine…I just… I just need to… to rest for a bit." I said. "I put in too much energy for that one blast. It was pretty stupid of me."

"So... You seem fine." Said twilight.

"you didn't put yourself into an energy dept, did you?" asked Martukus.

"a huge one…" I said. Normally going into an energy dept isn't much of a bad thing for unicorns, but for ponies like me with magical metaphysical abilities it means that I won't be able to use any kind of magic whatsoever until the debt is repaid. An energy debt is what it sounds like. If I need something done but don't have the energy then I can pull it from the earth, but that energy must be replaced and any energy I regenerate naturally will be sapped out of me and pulled back into the earth until the debt is repaid.

"Well if you're in debt crimson… there's always that light you made… that gave me tons of energy last night." Said twilight checking the bags. She rummaged through them with a surprised face. "What the… fuck, they're not here!" she said. I checked my side to see the sword I made was gone too.

"I didn't think that the light shards would last long, they must have broken down while we were all distracted." I said. "It's fine… I can still fight without magic." I said standing back up and fluttering my wings that were a bit singed at the tips from the lightning, and also broken from the force of the tentacles wrapping around them and my body.

"So until the debt is paid it'll be like your mortal again… and regular mortal, not the old kind of mortal you used to be." Said thunder smiling with a snug grin on his face. I shot him back the same look.

"Yeah… just like old…old…old times." I said thinking way back.

"Not old, old, old times, just old times." He said.

"For you… I'm over 1000 years old." I said. "I spent the greatest part of my life in a colorless void training on how to become a god… what did you do in the last week of so?" I asked jokingly.

"Hey watch yourself Mr. God." He said playfully jabbing me with his horn. "At the moment I have more magical abilities than you."

"Yeah whatever…" I said rolling my eyes and thunder. "We should get going now so we can get to the next town." The others agreed and we packed up and started to get going. I carried my own bags like before and we set off down the path. I went to pick up Rosa and place her on my back, but I stopped for obvious reasons. "twilight, do you want to carry Rosa?" I asked.

"how come?" she asked looking at me and Rosa. "all I had to do was guide her with my eyes towards my lashed and bloody back for her to instantly get it."

"of yeah.. sure." Said twilight. she smiled and picked up rosa and placed her on her back. We started walking down the path following the map towards the next city. It wasn't too far from us, we should be able to make it there by nightfall and find a place to stay on short notice…hopefully. Twilight picked up Alba and placed her on her back. We started walking onwards down the charred forest path towards the new city that remained out of sight for the moment. Because of my fresh and serious open wounds, I was tracking a trail of blood. What was worse was that the forest was viciously silent. I'm not surprised though, that blast probably scared every woodland creature to death, all the way from the squirrels in the trees the huge ass bears chasing after the squirrels in the trees. Even we were silent now, nopony talked, we just marched onward.

"Hey crimson…" said twilight next to me. Hearing her break the silence was such a relief. I wanted the silence to end, but I didn't have anything to say.

"Yeah twilight…" I said smiling and looking over.

"This might sound a bit strange…" she said. "But… uh… do you think you could sing us a song?" she asked.

"A…a song?" I repeated.

"Yeah… a song." She repeated. "I know you would sing for rarity and even rainbow dash… and they told me you were a very good musician, but I've never heard you sing." She said.

"uhm… I suppose I could." I said blushing slightly. Thunder and Martukus glanced back at us, specifically me, to see if I would actually start singing. And I decided why not, it would help lighten the mood. "is there any song you want to hear?" I asked.

"no… just think of one." Said twilight. I sat there for a second and suddenly a song formed in my head. It was a mix of familiar song lyrics and my own.

"Walking down this road…." I sung out in tune. "In a world that never ends, only the company of my closest friends… never let it show, the pain I've grown to know. Because with all these things we do, it doesn't matter when I'm coming home to you." Twilight and the others smiled, so did Alba. "in this world that never ends, my company of friends, walk me through the storm, take on fear of any form, cause with all these things we do… it doesn't matter when I'm coming home to you."

"Hehehe…" twilight giggled as I flaunted my tail at her with the end of the line.

"But with all that we've been through, this time I'm coming home to you." I said now prancing around to the beat of the song. "This wild ride, that takes me through life, breaths me into darkness but emerges into light." I sung. "But with all the things we do… this time I'm coming on home to…you." I said finishing my song and landing right back next to twilight.

"That was a great song..." Said thunder.

"I never knew you could sing." Added Martukus.

"it would sound better, probably, if I had a guitar or something to play." I added.

"it sounded fine... Thank you." Said twilight smiling at me as we trotted down to road. I smiled back at her and saw that little rosa was fast asleep on her back. She noticed to and smiled at her. We pushed on down the road without much distractions, hopefully we won't get jumped by bandits again, and if we do, hopefully it won't end up like it did last time. I opened up my bags and checked the map one more time to see how much progress we've made already. I looked at it and it didn't seem to help. I looked around the forest and checked between the map and noticed we hadn't gained much ground. This journey might end up taking us through the night, but if we move quickly without any distractions I think we might be fine. I put the map away and looked around in the sky checking for the sun. I saw that the sun wasn't even in the middle of the sky, it hasn't even been noon yet. For such a late night we sure did get up exceptionally early.

" so crimson..." Said thunder. I turned my gaze from the sky and looked over to him. " what's the plan?" He asked.

" the plan?" I repeated. " well first we have to go to the ruins of alba's hometown and help her, then we can move onto the volcano and finally get on with our adventure." I said.

" where is her hometown?" asked twilight taking the map from my hooves and holding it in front of her with her magic.

" it's the uh... Big black X on the map between the eastern blight and the forsaken lands." I said.

" this one hear..." She said pointing out the spot to me.

" yeah... Right there... That's where we need to go." I said.

" let me see that." Said thunder using his magic to take the map form twilight. He held it in front of himself and Martukus peered over too. "Holy crap... Those things wicked far away from here. It will take us at least five days to get to it." He said.

" yeah... I know." I said. " that's why I'm hoping that there's some kind of transportation system in this country that can get us there quickly.

" I didn't see one at the port we were at." Said twilight.

" yeah, but that was a small port, and it was very close to the bandit city which wasn't always controlled by bandits, there might have been a train station or something in there that we didn't see..." I said. " there might be one in this next town." I said.

" you mean city..." Said Martukus.

" yeah sure whatever." I replied. I smiled and rolled my eyes as the subject dropped and we started to press onward further down the road. I soon became very bored and I could tell so was everypony else. Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like the whole day was ticking by, I felt that the sun was going to set any second and is the sky would turn dark signaling night... But when I looked for the sun I saw it floating right above our heads. I let out a deep sigh and my stomach let put a low rumble. I looked down at my stomach and blushed slightly from embarrassment.

" hungry?" Asked twilight in a haughty manner.

" a bit... I can't remember the last time I ate." I said.

" what are you talking about, we ate at the port about a day ago." Said thunder.

" I mean the last time I really ate something." I said. " not like a bowl of soup or noodles, like an actually meal..."

" he's right..." Added twilight clutching her stomach for a second. " if there was a buffet right now, I would DESTROY." She said smiling as her stomach growled too. We all laughed and smiled, and apparently Alba woke up too. We decided to stop and have some food that we had packed. We sat down on the edge of the road and unpacked out things and we all grabbed some food. We sat down and ate our food, which happened to be sandwiches, and told a few jokes. I looked over to twilight who shot her eyes down the path. She had a strange look on her face as she slowly followe dot he path behind us with her eyes. I watched them as the moved up to me then she looked at me in shock.

" what?" I asked.

" crimson!" She exclaimed. " are you still bleeding?" She asked me.

" huh?" I said looking back through the track following a trail of large blood drops that lead right up to me. I was already in a small puddle of my own blood. " I guess I am." I said.

" that can't be healthy..." Added thunder sarcastically obviously not as worried as twilight is.

" crimson are you alright?" She asked.

" yeah I'm fine..." I said. " I've been bleeding for the last few hours, so it can't be that bad." I said. " I produce blood faster than I can loose it in most cases, so I'm fine." I said. " besides my super regenerative abilities don't work while I don't have any magical energy."

" your sure you'll be fine?" She asked.

" if I faint then you'll know." I said smiling and taking the last bite of my sandwich. She rolled her eyes in a worried manner and I smiled. We finished our food and were about to get packed up. I placed my saddlebags back over my back and they rubbed against my lash wounds which caused me to wince at the pain but I pushed through it. The others got there bags on and twilight tossed alba up onto her back.

" hey..." Said Martukus looking past me and twilight. " what's that?" He asked pointing down the road we just came from. Thunder was staring at the same thing martukus was and it compelled me and twilight to look back and see what was happening. We turned around and saw something coming down the road. I could hear the faint creaking of wheels and thud of hooves on the ground, but those hooves sounded too heavy to be a pony. I focused my vision a bit more and saw a cart with a pony on it. I noticed it and smiled.

" hey... It's a cart..." I said smiling.

" really...? Do you think he would give us a ride?" Asked twilight.

" I don't know, let's wait for him." Said Martukus. We waited patiently there for the cart and as he started to get close we tried to signal him down. The cart began growing closer and closer until it was easily visible. It was a large cart with two oxen pulling it along with incredible ease. On the drivers seat of the cart was a pony. He held the reigns of the two oxen in one hoof and relaxed on the back of his seat with his hooves up. He had a straw hat on that covered his face and a stick of wheat sticking out of his mouth. There were empty and flattened bags in the back of the cart, but other than that it was seemingly empty. The pony driving the cart was a normal brown pony with black hair, like most of the ponies here. His hair looked greasy and very unkempt. He rolled up in his cart and it slowly came to a stop next to us.

" I take it you need a ride, reckoning how y'all are just standing there watching me." He said flashing his face at us. He had a scar over his left eye and his eyes were green. I was w about to speak up but Martukus who already was showing his armor beat me to it. I could tell he had a plan.

" please sir... I'm an adventurer trying to escort this injured family safely to the next town... If you could get us there before night I would find no trouble in making it worth your time." He said. He looked over to the four of us. Through the looks of it, we did seem to look like a family. And taking my injuries into consideration I decided to use that to my advantage.

" please..." I said speaking up using my best fatherly tone. " If you can't take us, at least bring my wife and child." I said gesturing over to twilight and alba who were already in on the plan.

" hmm... Are you alright there buddy..." He said looking down at me.

" uh... No... I was attacked" I said.

" I've sent those whip marks before..." Said the pony. " looks like you five had a run in with the black rain." He said. " well... I can't let good ponies perish when I could have done something about it..." He said. He stared at me and gave me a sullen look. " climb on, I'll get you to aurora before nightfall." He said. We smiled and climbed on. I weakly climbed onto the cart pretending to be severely injured and in pain. We sat down on the cart and I laid down near the edge. The crack of a whip filled the air and the cart jerked forward and we started making our way down the path.

" thank you so much." Said twilight.

" no problem miss." Said the pony. " it was all that I could do." We sat there in silence for a little while until the pony spoke up again. " where are y'all from anyhow?" He asked. "and what do you need to get to aurora for?" he asked, I was confused for a second.

"wait…" I said. "aurora is that town back there that is controlled by bandits."

"that used to be new aurora." Said the pony. "the place didn't last five years before it was ransacked and taken over by bandits, we don't call it new aurora anymore. The real aurora is the large city down this here path, that's the true aurora." He said. "so like I said, where are y'all from?"

" we're just humble ponies from the port down south trying to escape the poverty of the area... We heard it's much better in aurora." I said. " we sought out the help of an adventurer who gladly agreed to help us."

" what about him?" Asked the pony gesturing back to thunder.

" he's a very close friend of the family." I said. " he wanted to come with us."

" well, y'all sound like a very nice bunch, and I'm happy to help." He said. " aurora is a great city and I'm sure you'll find a good living there, maybe as farm ponies." He said.

" thank you... Is that what you are... A farmer?" Asked twilight.

" yes ma'am." He said. " just came back from nu-Xing, sold my crops and made quite the nice profit from it... Got a farm outside of the city, lots a farm land out there, really nice and fertile soil." He said. " if you are planning on starting a farm, aurora is the place to be."

" so what is your name kind stranger?" Asked Martukus.

" my name is thorn." He said. " I know, it might seem like a strange mane, but there's a reason behind it." He said. " like most farmers I grow wheat and corn, but I am famous for one particular crop that other ponies don't grow."

" and what is that?" Asked thunder.

" roses..." He said smiling.

" roses?" Said twilight sounding confused.

" yes ma'am, roses." He said. " they're the most beautiful flowers around... Partially because they aren't always around."

"what do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Well roses aren't an indigenous plant in stallasia, they're mostly imported, and the trick about them is that they don't grow easily in stallasain soil, and I'm one of very few farmers who knows how to grow them." He said. "they are very rare here to be grown naturally, I've got a batch coming in now actually, when we get there you should be able to see beautiful fields of red roses."

"That sounds lovely…" said twilight smiling.

"It is, it's a very beautiful sight." He said. "the only real tricky part are the thorns… which is where I get my name." he said. "I grow the roses and they call me thorn."

"That's a very nice tale." I said.

"Mmmm…. And one of my favorites to tell." he said. "Now, what are your names?" he asked.

"u well, im twilight sparkle."

"Im thunder rush."

"My name is Martukus."

"I'm Alba…"

"And your name…" said the farmer looking back to me.

"My names crimson… crimson blast." Suddenly he stopped the cart and looked off down the road. I grew a bit concerned wondering what kind of hell I've unboxed now.

"Where did y'all say you're from?" he asked in a sullen voice.

"We're villagers… from the port." He stayed silent for a few seconds.

"You know…" he said. "I almost believed that." He said… damnit. "Now… I'm a nice pony, but please dog lie to me… where y'all from are." He said. "You don't have any kind of strange stallasain name like most ponies here do… and you're too bright and colorful to be coming from that port."

"fine…" I said getting up. I had left an impressively large puddle of blood in my shape. He looked back at me and when he noticed how much blood I've lost and how I'm still standing his expression changed to that of wonder and curiosity. "No more lies…. Here's the whole truth."

"crimson…" twilight said but I spoke over her.

"We're adventurers from equestrian, not pheasants from the port." I said. "Were trying to get to this location here." I said holding up the map and pointing to the black X. "we didn't lie about our names… but were here on an important quest… and we just need a way to get around quickly… so…I apologize for lying… but we didn't know if you would help us or not." I said laying back down. He looked back at me and then turned back to the road and whipped his oxen again as they pulled the cart. We all stayed silent for a while and the cart just moved forward down the road. The only sound was the squeaking of the wooden wheels.

"I never thought that the very crimson would be riding along on my cart." He said. How the hell does this guy know my name? "There is something more to my story you should know before is start explaining things." He said. "You see the only reason I have a rose farm in the first place is because I'm not a native of stallasia, as you might have figured out by my accent, its only coincidence that I look alike to them. I came here trying to be a farmer, but I was robbed on my way here… the only thing I had left were a few rose seeds… I settled down at the farm of a kind pony who helped me out until I got back up on my hooves, he gave me some land to plant my own crops and make a living… and I did." He looked back towards us. "I used to live just outside of equestrian… to the south, in the equine flatlands. I was a profitable farmer there, but times were rough and there was a massive drought… so I set sail to stallasia… and you know the story from there."

"when was that?" asked twilight.

"about ten or so years ago." He said. "I didn't know of you then… but a while ago, maybe three or four years ago I went back to equestrian to visit family and when I got there the whole place was buzzing about a certain pony with strange abilities. It took only three days for me to hear everything there was to know about you. I spent a few years in equestria with family, and I would always hear your name, and some other great thing you've done… and I have to say. It's an honor to meet you face to face." He said looking back and smiling at me. I smiled right back at him.

"thank you…" I said for no reason.

"its absolutely not a problem." He said. "I always knew you were tough… but not this tough. And I'm no fool, I have a good pair of eyes… I can see the wounds on you. Any other pony would have died from those wounds, if not then the loss of blood." He smiled at me and tipped his hat slightly.

"You know…" twilight said. "Before when these kinds of things happened I would stand there confused for hours at a time no matter how many times somepony explained it to me, but it happens so frequently that I'm already over it." She said making me and the others chuckle.

"I take it these kinds of things happen to you a lot?" said thorn looking back and sharing in the joke.

"Are you kidding me… strange occurrences happen to me so often that I could set a clock by it?" I said "let's see…I'm guessing it's about… 2:30" I said. Thorn opened up a bag next to him and pulled out a fancy gold pocket watch and flipped it open. He looked at it and then smiled.

"2:36…" he said. Needless t says that we laughed. He put the watch away in the bag and smiled as he looked onward keeping his eyes on the road. "So… you don't seem to be doing too well crimson… is there anything you could use help with… maybe medical wise?" he said throwing some very large hints my way.

"No… I'll be fine…" I said. "I'm just drained of energy… once I recharge then I'll be good as new, but I figured I would be out of it all day… but I probably should do something so I'm not bleeding all over the place."

"Well I've probably got some bandages and stuff at my place, you're welcome to stay the night and have a nice warm meal. My wife is an adept healer and could help you with your wounds." Said thorn. "Or we could hang you upside down and just let you dry out naturally." He said jokingly.

"Hmm…" I said playfully. "Sounds tempting… let me think about it." I said making him chuckle slightly. His laugh slowly faded but his smile stayed. He gazed onward towards the horizon and we could see that the forest was thinning out. We were on top of a large hill and bellow the hill was farmland… as far as the eye could see. Golden fields of wheat and corn. And off in the distance, far, far away was a faint bulge that was the city of aurora.

"you know crimson…I have to thank you." Said thorn.

"Huh... for what?" I asked still with a smile on my face.

"For not being one of 'THOSE' hero's." he said putting emphasis on 'those'.

"What do you mean one of 'THOSE' hero's?" I asked with my smile fading slowly now to hear what he has to say.

"the fact that you're a hero isn't what makes you great… but it's the way you go about it, and I have heard plenty of stories about you to know that what I say ring true." He said. "You don't act like a hero… that's the thing… you act like a normal pony." He said. "You don't overwhelm others with an almighty attitude, you stay on their level and get to know them… in other words you're a very likeable pony, which is great." Thorn continued. "You don't act stuck up and arrogant like some ponies I've met… and you always put others before yourself…in every sense of the term…so thank you crimson… thank you for acting like a normal pony… and not a hero… because that is what makes you a true hero." He said looking back and grinning at me.

"Thank you…" I said with a smile spreading across my face. "That means a lot to me coming from a pony I don't know very well." I said. "I can't tell you how long I've waited for somepony to tell me those kinds of things; I always thought I was celebrated for being a hero. But hearing that makes me feel like I'm celebrated not for being a powerful hero, but for being a good friend, and a very likeable pony… thank you thorn…" I said with a big smile slowly spreading across my face. Twilight looked over to me and smiled at me too. She leaned over and rubbed her head up against mine in a kind of hug and I did the same back.

"I have to say though… if I were in your hooves I couldn't do the things you do… but I always dreamed about being a great adventurer like yourself… but I couldn't do that, I'm not cut out for it, I was born to farm." Said thorn.

"I have the same kinds of dreams…" I said. "But I don't want to adventure… I just want to live a normal life, without any fame or fortune or adventures. I just want to settle down with my wife and kids and just live a normal life. Wake up every morning; go to work, maybe even start a farm like you, I always thought it would be fun to work a farm. Then I would pick up my kids from school and go to the market to buy food without everypony crowding around me and trying to get my attention." I said. "because believe it or not, I never asked for this life… I was just dragged into it, and for the longest time I've been trying to escape." I said looking down at my own pool of blood that I was sitting in. "but every time I take one step forwards, something pulls me six feet back."

"I'm sorry about that…" said thorn. "What are you doing now then?" he asked

"We need to get to the volcano…" said twilight.

"What are you doing then going so far out of your way to the border near the scarred land?" he asked.

"We have something to do their first before we go to the volcano." I said.

"I won't ask you any of your business if you don't want to talk about it." Said thorn.

"Thanks…" I said. I looked back up and suddenly the forest around us seemed to be gone now, just fields of gold and green. Endless miles of golden wheat spread out before our eyes. The wind blowing made ripples and waves along the seas of wheat. Seeing these fields of wheat made me wonder something. I looked back at the map and checked the surrounding area of aurora; the map says it should be forested area, and not miles and miles of farmland. "Hey uh thorn… this map says that these parts should be forested area, not fields." I said.

"Huh… let me see that." He said. I passed the map over to him and he browsed over it. "Huh… wait… oh, here's the problem. This map dates back 40 years ago, it's not accurate." He said. a sudden wave of pity washed over the entire group as we felt mildly embarrassed.

"I-it's not…" said twilight.

"No…it's not…" answered thorn. " about 30 years ago raids on the city by the dark creatures of the night had grown so frequent that the ponies decided to completely clear all the forest around the city. This solved the problem and the townsfolk could sleep easily. The ponies and the farmers who went out and chopped down all the tree's kept the wood and instead of letting all this land just sit here and grow them decided to build farms on the land. The areas were divided up and roads were drawn out."

"So the whole city is just surrounded on all sides by farmland." Said Martukus.

"Pretty much." Said thorn. I looked back at thorn as he handed me the map back. I grabbed it and placed it back in the bags. By now the blood that was leaking from me had slowed considerably, but there was a trail dripping off the end of the wagon. I'll have to be sure to wash this down once we get to the city. The others saw the puddle of blood under me and kept their distance, luckily there was enough space because the cart was huge. After a while of ridding on the back of the cart most of my friends were resting now. Twilight was asleep with alba resting on her back, also asleep. Thunder looked all around trying to find something to keep him distracted and thorn kept his eyes on the road. The farmland completely overtook everything and it seemed to be the only thing around us. The road was rather hilly and curved. There were many times where it would branch off onto smaller roads and there were large barns and farmhouses all around. Whenever there wasn't a field full of wheat, corn, cotton, apple trees, or any other kind of plant, it would be full of animals; Pigs, sheep, cows, and chickens. I looked up to the sky trying to find the sun and I saw it right in front of us, looming over the large bulge that had grown to be recognizable as the city.

The air had dropped a few degrees and the sky was turning a vibrant orange. The sky was bright in front of us where the sun was resting, but behind us it grew darker and darker fading into a deep red then to a dull indigo. The clouds glowed red signaling that tomorrow would be a beautiful day. I could see a sudden breeze drifting over our way as I watched a wave form in the sea of wheat. It passed over the golden field and then blew right over the cart. I pushed my mane back behind my forehead and rustled my fur. There was always something about the farm life that I found relaxing. My father used to be a farmer in Arizona. He would always take me flying in his crop duster and show me all of his neat tricks that he learned in the war. He taught me to fly and then I legally got my pilots license at the age f 24 after I graduated college. He used to let me fly his plane and dust the fields for him once every month. That was the life, along with working on the farm with him… I had fun all the time. That seems to be the only thing I can remember about my time on earth right now, farming with my father… that's all I want to know.

"It's getting late." Said Martukus snapping me out of my trance. He was looking up to the sky and staring at the sun. Twilight slowly woke up and yawned. She also caused Alba to wake up and yawn as well. Twilight lazily adjust and looked around. Thunder looked over to thorn expecting him to comment.

"It is…" said thorn. "We won't make it to the city before night… but y'all are welcome to stay the night at our place, we've got plenty of room in the barn." He said.

"Well, we don't want to impose." Said twilight.

"Nonsense… it would be my honor." He said. "Besides, I can't wait to see the look on my wife's face when she see's who I brought home." He said smiling and looking very excited and giddy.

"Thank you…" I said. "We would only need to stay one night."

"Perfectly fine." He said. "And you won't need to worry about animals in the barn, Wilma and Belmont here are the only two ox we got, they stay towards the back and don't make too much noise." He said. "when we bought the plot of land the barn came with it, we just use it for storage mostly and for extra sleeping space when the need arises, and trust me your not the first ones to sleep in that barn." he said. "I've actually got a funny story for all of you." He said smiling. I just looked off and smiled too listening to his story.

Thorn told us about one time when a runaway bandit had hid in their barn over the night. It was just one morning, same as every other one, about 5 years before he left on vacation back to equestria. He and his wife woke up in the morning and thorn went to grab his harvest to sell in the town market while his wife, who he ironically told us is named rose, prepared breakfast. Thorn was going out to the barn and he noticed that one of the doors was swung wide open. Being curious he walked in slowly with his lamp in his teeth. He grabbed one of the pitchforks hanging up by the door and slowly walked in. to his surprise there was a pony sleeping peacefully in a pile of hay. The pony was wearing leather armor and carried weapons on him. Startled by this, thorn jumped back and let out a small gasp of excitement causing him to drop the pitchfork. The sound of the pitchfork hitting the floor woke up the pony and seeing thorn there, the pony jumped up onto his hooves.

The pony drew his sword and held it up to thorn. He was shaking and trembling and didn't seem like much of a killer. In an attempt to frighten thorn the pony said he was a bandit from the bandit city that I…uh… currently leveled to the ground. The pony didn't look like a bandit. He didn't have the evil look in his eyes, he looked scared instead. He didn't seem to be a day over 19. Knowing that this might go either way thorn slowly backed away from the pitchfork lying on the ground. He didn't call out for help or anything, because nopony would hear them. His barn was far from the house and surrounded by fields of wheat. Thorn and the boy stood there at a standstill staying completely silent for what seemed like minutes. It was obvious that the boy didn't know what he was doing and wasn't really a bandit.

"What are you doing kid?" asked thorn to the bandit. He tried reasoning with him. "You don't look like a bandit to me… now… drop the sword, I'm not going to hurt you, and I won't call the guard."

"I-I…I… I can't do this." Said the bandit as he dropped his sword and immediately broke down crying. He put his head into his hooves and started sobbing madly. Tears rolled down from his hooves and dropped onto the wooden floor of the barn. Thorn had the perfect chance to pick up the pitchfork and run the kid out of his land, but he didn't. he walked over to the pony and sat down next to him.

"what's the matter lad… what are you doing?" thorn asked. The pony took a minute to sober up and stop crying.

"I don't know anymore." He said to thorn. "I thought I wanted to be a bandit, it seemed like a good lifestyle, and I didn't have much choice anyway, I was born into it." He said. " I tried being a bandit, and I just couldn't do it. i was supposed to jump a passing trade caravan but when the time came I chickened out and ran back to the city." He said. "it wasn't pretty after that." Thorn told us about how the pony's father and mother disowned him and that he was accused of treason and was wanted dead. The father didn't care, but his mother didn't want him dead despite disowning him. She helped him escape and he ran away early in the morning so he couldn't face the horrors of the dark forest at night. They caught on and chased him but he slipped away and in a fit of extreme fear and worry he found the closest barn he could find and hunkered down in there before night fell… and that leads up to the current point in the story.

"look son…" said thorn. "You haven't done anything wrong; in fact you were smart to get out of that place." He said. "you have a bright future ahead of you, you should go into the town and find work, honest work. Make a good living, and maybe start a nice family. I know you could do that, you've got the heart."

"Do you really think so?" asked the bandit boy with tears still rolling down his eyes.

"I know it." said thorn smiling. The bandit bow smiled too. "Now c'mon…" said thorn getting up. "why don't you come back to the house with me, we can get you some food and then head into the city." Both smiling, thorn and the bandit boy headed back to the house. Once they got there thorn had to explain everything to rose who was also as caring and hospitable as thorn. She made some extra food and the three of them ate breakfast. The bandit told thorn and rose that his name was blaze. They talked and once dinner was done thorn and blaze headed off into the city travelling by cart. It took them a few hours to get there and once they were there thorn had his own crops to sell. Blaze helped him and after they found a merchant who bought all of blaze's old gear. Blaze had some money now, but it wasn't enough to get started the right way. They both headed back to the farm and blaze was invited to have dinner with them.

At dinner thorn invited blaze to stay with them and help out at the farm. He would pay him at the end of every week for his help and he could eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the family. Blaze happily agreed with tears in his eyes and thorn let him stay in the barn since the house was rather small and had no spare rooms, blaze didn't care. Thorn and rose opened themselves up to blaze and he accepted their help humbly and honestly. For the next two months blaze helped out on the farm and saved up his money so that he could start a new life. And then one day when thorn went to go get blaze early one morning he was gone, nowhere to be found. He had left, leaving no note or anything telling that he left, and he had taken a lamp. Thorn knew that he was off on his own now and whatever would happen to him was up to him now. So thorn tended the farm for the next couple of weeks, and soon those weeks turned into more months and then a few years passed. Suddenly one day thorn went back to the barn to grab some wheat to sell in town. When he walked into the barn he stopped dead still at what he saw.

In the middle of the bard was a small pile of golden hay. Sticking out of the hey was a sword that had been thrusted into the floorboards and stood upright in the hay. On one of the hoofguards for the sword was an oil lantern just hanging there unlit. On the handle of the hilt was a piece of paper that was wrapped around the handle and ties together. Thorn looked at the sword and a smile ran right across his face. He recognized the sword to belong to blaze. He walked over and took the oil lantern off of the sword and slowly untied the note attached to the handle of the sword. He took off the note and unrolled it. he read the whole note with a smile on his face. To this day thorn still remembers word for word what the note said.

"Dear thorn… I cannot begin to express my gratitude towards you and your wife rose. You two were the only ones who ever saw me and thought I had a chance to be something great, and that fills me with a great sense of joy that I cannot begin to explain. You showed me what it was like to do honest work and gave me a true chance. If I had a chance to change anything, I wouldn't, because I regret nothing. Thank you for believing in me and here's your lamp back. Sorry I took it, but it was night and I needed to find my way around. I one day we will meet each other again… One day. Until that day, I hope you the best of luck my friend, to you and rosa… thank you."

Attached to the note was a picture. In the picture was blaze with his red hair and brown fur. There were two other ponies in the picture with him. A mare with long black hair, emerald green eyes and a brown coat. She had a smile that could melt the sun. In blaze's hoof was a small child with black hair with a red stripe running through it. The child had a brown coat and blue eyes. The picture was labeled too in ink. The labeling was: "father, mother, and daughter". Seeing this almost brought thorn to tears. When he showed it to his wife rose she started crying tears of joy. He looks back at this day as one of the proudest moments of his life. He looked at blaze like a father does and when he saw how successful he was he felt the kind of pride only a father feels for his son. Thorn's only regret is that he hasn't seen blaze ever since.

"And that's my story…" said thorn. We sat there awestruck as the sky above us was now a deep dark blue as the sun was inches above the horizon.

"That's a very touching story thorn." Said twilight who had a tear in her eye.

"Thank you miss…" said thorn. We stayed silent for a while and let the moment settle in. suddenly we took a left turn down a more narrow path towards a white farmhouse. "Well, here we are… home sweet home." He said changing the mood suddenly. We turned into the dirt path leading up to the cozy wooden house. Instead of stopping there we went beyond the house and the path led to a large red barn off in the distance. The ride there took only a few minutes and thorn rode the cart into the barn and we all got off. It was a large barn full of boxes and barrels and piles of hay. Thorn took the reins off the two oxen and walked them into the back and put them in their pens. He walked back over to us with a smile and we made our way over to the farmhouse. We didn't talk much on the way there. I kept bleeding down the path but it wasn't so bad as it was before. My fur was SOAKED…in blood. And before when I had my normal red coat of fur it wasn't very noticeable, but now I've got white fur and… well, I HAD white fur, now it's red again from the blood. It didn't take us much longer before we reached the house and thorn opened up the door. The first thing we heard was a mare call out from another room.

"Hello honey…" she said excitedly as she walked out from a room to the left with a big smile on her face. She was a small mare with brown fur and blue eyes. She had short pink hair with red highlights. She walked over with a smile on her face and it grew wider once she saw us all…But then… seeing me there all dirty, injured, and blood soaked didn't serve as a good welcoming home sight. Her smile faded to a look of concern and panic. She walked over to her husband with a worrying look glancing back between him and me paying no attention to the others. Thorn could see the look on her face but kept a happy smile on his face. "Uh dear, who are these ponies?" she asked.

"Wandering adventurers." Said thorn happily. "They need a place to stay for the night and a good meal."

"That's fine and all…" said rose. "But, uh… who is that blood soaked one there." She said whispering right into her husband's ear. The others couldn't hear but I could. Before thorn could say something I took a step forward and introduced myself.

"Uhm… sorry to bother you ma'am." I said in a gentlemanly manner. "… My name is crimson blast, and me and my friends just need a place to stay for the night, were trying to reach aurora." I said doing a little courtesy bow showing some respect by just bowing my head to the floor slightly and walking over. She looked at me with a shocked face and I just smiled.

"You… you're crimson blast." She said with her smile slowly returning. "Oh my gosh, I've heard so much about you!" she said excitedly like a giddy school filly. She went in to try and hug me but stopped after she noticed my condition. "oh god your hurt badly." She said.

"its not bad…" I said. "but your husband told me you're a good healer."

"oh… yes, I am, ill do what I can to help." She said. "please, come on in, there isn't much room, but I can find some chairs." She said. c'mon, we should get you fixed up right away." She said.

"thank you…" I said. "I just need you to get the bleeding to stop."

"sure… uhm…" she said thinking. "alright, honey can you go get some rubbing alcohol and a few rags?" she asked.

"sure thing sweetie." Said thorn running off to a different room.

"why don't you four stay down here for a little bit and make yourselves comfortable, ill be starting dinner once I'm done with crimson…" said rose. "Here crimson, follow me upstairs, leave your bags here." She said.

"Sure thing…" I replied a bit shocked at how quickly she took control of the situation despite being so giddy and excited almost a minute ago. I placed my things down near the door and followed rose up the staircase onto the next floor. She walked into a new room and I followed her in. I walked in and looked around, and I noticed it was a bathroom. She reached over to the bathtub and started running the water. She walked over to me and smiled.

"alright." She said. "Let's see what we have to work with here." She said placing her hooves on my sides and brushing away my fur to see the horrible wounds on my body. They were easy to pin out since they were gaping holes and red slashes across my back and sides.

"this isn't grossing you out at all?" I asked.

"not really…" she said stepping off of me. "I once saw a mare with both her eyes torn out… poor thing was still alive and is today, she wears a blindfold to hide her shame…" she said.

"that sounds horrible." I said.

"She was ten…" she added. Oh god no that's worse. I shivered slightly.

"Honestly… after all the shit I've seen, seeing a ten year old girl with her eyes torn out would probably cause me to go insane."

"Luckily for me the incident was so tragic that I've completely repressed it, even the images. I can't remember a single thing no matter how hard I try." She said. "The only things that I remember from that time were the screams." She said becoming rather distant and staring at the running bath. She soon snapped out of it and looked at me with a smile. "Be we don't need to worry about that, here… we should wash out that blood and clean those wounds." She said gesturing to the tub. I walked over and stepped into the tub. I sat down and let the warm water cover me. Since the water was cycling through to wash away the blood and keep the water clean the level of the water didn't get too high, just sitting down didn't even reach up to my wounds. "Just one sec." she said leaving the room for a short while before returning with a small bucket. Thorn walked in just in time with a few rags and rubbing alcohol.

"Here you go honey." He said placing them down.

"Thanks dear…" she said. He left the room and rose got to work. "Alright let's get you all cleaned up." She said dipping the bucket into the water. She pulled it up and poured the warm water all over me. When it touched my open wounds and the hot water rushed through my raw flesh I let out a yelp of pain from the water. I arched my back like I was trying to avoid the pain and I grit my teeth. The water soon turned a faint red and I was now soaking wet. My coat was still red but was getting cleaner. She kept dumping buckets of water over my head and washing the wounds. She grabbed a rag and a bar of soap and dipped them in water. She got the rag all soaped up and started pressing it against my wounds and slowly dragging it along so she didn't reopen the wounds and cause me any pain, though it did sting a bit. To pass the time I decided to make a bit of small talk.

"So uhm… how long have you and thorn been married together?" I asked. She placed the rag on an open wound on my back and I winced slightly. The bath water was red and soapy and no matter how much it drained it didn't seem to get any less so.

"me and thorn have been happily married for eight years." She said. "we knew each other before we started this farm actually." She said.

"Oh really?" I added.

"Mmmm… we didn't know each other in equestria, but we were on the same boat together and that's when we started to get to know each other better, he's a very sweet stallion and I love him. I remember the day we landed somepony had stolen all of my belongings and got away with it. With nopony else to turn to I asked him for help." She said. "I just wanted to ask if he could help me get my luggage back, but after hours of trying we knew that they were long gone by then… so instead he invited me to stay with him until I could get my bearings."

"Did you two land in the dock to the east of here?" I asked.

"Yes we did, it wasn't the best place to start off. We stayed in an inn most of the nights and he paid for both of our rooms." She said. "We started to get very intimate and soon after a year or so he disappeared. Left a bag of money in my room and never wrote. I was devastated, but a week later he came back with the biggest smile on his face. He walked up to me and told me he bought a farm by a town far from here. He asked me to come with him; he said the city near the farm was such a beautiful and friendly place."

"And so you went with him." I said smiling. She was smiling too and I saw she was lost in her thoughts as she stopped tending to my wounds and just held the soapy rag in one spot completely frozen in her memories.

"Yes, of course I said yes… I was excited to begin a new life." She said. "It took us about two days to get there by wagon, and when we arrived at the farm the first thing he did, before I even walked into the house, was propose to me. I happily said yes and he was so overjoyed that he swept me up off my hooves and carried me around the house. We got married a month later and now we live happily on this farm."

"Sounds romantic." I said in a happy manner. She giggled a bit and placed the rag down. For the first time the water around me wasn't red anymore. I must be clean now. "Have you two thought about having a child yet?" I asked.

"we have… but our only concern is that because the night time here is so dangerous, we wouldn't want anything to happen that we would regret for the rest of our lives." She said. "The lady of the dark that haunts the woods has everypony scared out of their minds." She said. We remained silent for a while and then rose stood up. "Well… you soak for a while, I'll leave this towel hear for you to dry, and come down when you're ready" she said grabbing the rags and rubbing alcohol. "I'll get some dinner started for you and the others and then we can get to the best part." She said shaking the bottle of rubbing alcohol… great, I thought. Before she walked out of the door I stopped her.

"Uhm rose…" I said stopping her. "After dinner I would like to talk to you and thorn in private… if that's alright with you?" I asked.

"Sure crimson… I'll let thorn know; you soak up and come down when you're ready." She said leaving the room entirely now. Her hoof steps faded as she left the room and went downstairs. I sat there in the bath for a while and turned off the flowing water and let it slowly drain out. No point in wasting hot water, especially when I'm just a guest here. One all the water was drained from the tub I stood up and looked over at the towel. I focused slightly and suddenly the towel levitated into the air and floated over at me. I smiled at my ability to use magic once again. Though I was still pretty magically exhausted, but I should be fine after a night of rest and some good food. If we're just going to the city anyway it's not like there's going to be some huge demon guarding the gates to the city that we have to fight, so I should be fine. I used my magic to throw the towel back onto the counter and superheated all the air around my figure to instantly evaporate all the water on me. I opened up the window as well to let all the steam out. Once the air was clear I closed the window and walked downstairs completely dry now and no longer bleeding.

I heard a bit of commotion coming from the room to my left and walked on over. I walked in and saw the others sitting around a small dining table in the kitchen. There weren't enough seats so martukus had to stand on the side. The whole place was rather cramped except for the kitchen area where rose was making food. She had a few pots boiling away on a gas stove and a few vegetables and a cutting board sitting on the counter. Above her were cabinets and bellow here too. There was a spice rack nailed to the wall to her right above the counter which then turned off to the sink with a window behind it which overlooked large green fields of freshly harvested corn and wheat. The others noticed me and gave me a warm smile and I returned that smile too. Thorn glanced over at me and gave me a friendly wink. I walked into the room and rose turned around and noticed me too. She smiled and walked over.

"Oh good your dry…" she said. "Honey watch the pots for me." She said walking over. "Here crimson come with me into the living room so we can treat those wounds and disinfect them." She said. I shrugged and walked out with rose. I flashed my friend's one last smile before she led me off into the living room which was right across from the kitchen/ dining room. The living room had only a few pictures hanging up with a large sofa and two chairs on either side. There was a large window that overlooked the front of the house and a few potted plants for decoration. She guided me over to the couch and pushed the wooden coffee table to the side which had a single bottle of rubbing alcohol on it.

"this is going to sting isn't it?" I said walking up to the couch.

"Like a bitch…" she said with a smile and grabbing the alcohol. I chuckled and rested onto the couch lying on my stomach.

"Great…" I said with a smile as I laid down into the couch.

"Are you ready?" she asked. I just took in a deep breath.

"Well, I guess it has to happen sooner or lateAAAAAAHHHHAHAHAAAAAAA!" I shouted out in pain as she started pouring the rubbing alcohol on my back.

"Everything alright in there crimson?" asked twilight from the other room. I was going to respond but rose poured some more of the alcohol on my other wounds and I shouted out in pain again.

"AAAAAAHHHH SON OF A BITCH!" I shouted out.

"Hang in there." Twilight shouted back out from the other room.

"Stop being such a baby…" said rose. "You probably got these wounds in a fight." She said.

"Yeah, but that's different." I said. "When you're in a fight you don't feel pain form all the adrenaline rushing through your body, makes everything but the enemy unimportant. I don't know why I'm letting her do this. I can't be stricken by mortal diseases, so I could literally just fill up my wounds with dirt and be fine. But then again, they don't really need to be bothered with all that junk, I'll let it slide. Besides, it's not the worst pain I've been in. she doused my wounds again with more rubbing alcohol and I yelled again in pain. She just giggled a bit and put the cork back on the rubbing alcohol.

"Alright, that's good… you should be fine for now." She said. "I'm sure a pony like you will just heal within a few days." She said. "I'm going back to fix up dinner." She said.

"Alright…I'm just gonna…. Just gonna rest here for a while." I said lying down on the couch. I laid my head down on the couch for a while and closed my eyes. I didn't fall asleep but I did enjoy the rest. As I laid there I heard the trotting of hooves at a very quick pace then I heard the doors open and shut. I looked back but nothing was there, and I was tired so I ignored it.

"Alright... Foods done." Said rose from the kitchen. I picked my head up off the couch and flopped over onto my hooves. I stretched out slightly and then dragged myself over to the kitchen. I walked in and everyday was abuzz. Food was being served and everypony got their plates and some food. I walked over and thorn handed me a plate. I walked over to the counter and rose smiled at me. She gave me my food and twilight saved a chair for me. Thorn went out and grabbed some extra chairs. We all managed to fit around the table cozily and we sat there with our food. We all sat down and started eating our meals. We were having green beans, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, steamed broccoli and cornbread... All with milk. Sweet merciful god, An actual meal.

We started to dig in and help ourselves to the food, and it was so good. I honestly can't remember the last time I've ever eaten this well. And even though I'm a god and I don't need to eat food, this was the best food I've ever had, and I could eat it all day. The mashed potatoes were really creamy and the corn on the cob was buttered up and crunchy. The steamed broccoli was pretty damn good too. I stopped eating the food for a second and drank down half of my glass of milk. I was starving like you wouldn't believe, and the food was so good, I just wanted to cram it all down my throat, but I restrained myself and ate normally, so I don't freak everypony out. Because honestly, whenever I get hungry I can be a bit of a slob... And nopony wants to see that... Trust me.

" wow rose... This is great." Said twilight swallowing her food before she spoke up. " I can't remember the last time I ate this well."

" I can't remember the last time I ate." I said abruptly " normally on an adventure I just put food in my mouth and swallow it... This is some damn good cooking."

" I think we can all agree on that." Said thunder. Twilight and martukus nodded with smiles on their faces. Rose blushed and giggled.

" thanks you guys." She said smiling.

" what do you think alba?" Asked twilight happily. We waited for her response, but there was only silence. " huh... Alba?" Twilight questioned again, this time we noticed she wasn't just silent, but she wasn't here. The mood of the room suddenly changed. " where is she?" Asked twilight.

" I think I know..." I said smiling. I got up from the table and completely forgot about my food. " she probably ran outside while we weren't looking." I said.

" what?" Exclaimed thorn very abruptly. " she went outside, that's not good, it's dangerous out there." He said becoming panicky

" don't worry..." I said getting up from my chair. " I'll go and get her, everything's gonna be fine." I said, at this point the others have already stopped bothering to put any reason in my head as I walked down the hall and out the door into the night outside. The screen door closed behind me and I walked a few feet Outside. It was quite dark outside now, but I could still find my way around. I moved off the deck and down the wooden steps onto the dirt path. I looked around and couldn't see alba. I closed my eyes and everything around me went dark. Soon a wave of energy burst from me and moved outward like sonar lighting everything up in my mind. Soon it passed over alba and I felt her presence as well as see her. She was sitting on top of the barn looking out at the moon. I opened my eyes and the sonar was gone and everything was normal, nothing had really changed though.

I looked over towards the barn and started following the dirt path down towards the red barn. The wind picked up and blew up against my face and made waved in the fields of wheat. Over the fields of wheat I saw a small patch of red roses. They grew like cornstalks and towered up high above the wheat fields. While the roses looked more gorgeous than any others I've ever seen, they were protected by razor sharp thorns and large vines of green. The thorns tangled and whipped around like blades with large roses growing on the, occasionally. I stopped for a second and looked over at the roses. I spread my wings out wide and slowly picked myself up off the ground and fluttered over to the bed of roses. I flew over the fields of golden wheat and hovered just above the roses. If my wings were to stop working suddenly I would be so screwed. I moved down closer to the roses and just as I thought, in the midst of the red and green colors, there was one rose, one special rose. A purple rose with black tips nested comfortably inside a whirlpool of thorns. I wanted to pick it, but I wouldn't be able to with my hooves, the stem is too thick. I floated there for a minute and let out a deep sigh.

I lowered my head into the pit of thorns and roses to grab the rare flower with my teeth. I inched in closer and the thorns already threatened to press against my cheeks and cut me to shreds. I moved carefully but one of the thorns nicked me and dug into my skin. I let out a little wince of pain and pushed my head forward towards the rose. More thorns cut across my face and one thorn sliced me under the eye. They started pricking against my neck now as I repositioned my head to grab the rose. I managed to get the stem in between my teeth and I bit down hard on it. Some of the barbs and thorns on the rose stem cut my tongue and the roof of my mouth but they weren't as bad as the thorns on the outside which sliced and stabbed into my neck. These thorns wouldn't break off now since they are so thickly rooted to the vines they grow on. I tried to gently tug the rose loose, but it was too thick for me to do this gently. I let out another sigh and with all my strength I yanked my head out of the thorn bush and took the rose with me. The thorns sliced all around my neck and face and tore my ears too. I let out a muffled grunt of pain and tried not to make too much noise. I looked back over to the barn and saw alba sitting on the edge still looking up at the moon.

I flew over there with the rose still between my teeth. I floated by her and she didn't notice me next to her, she was too lost in the moon to notice eye flying only a few feet to her left. I fluttered over I front of her and blocked her view of the moon with the rose still in my teeth. The glow of the moon illuminated around my figure and the blueish light wrapped around me and illuminated my own face. It was cut up and bloody with a purple and black rose in my teeth. Alba snapped out of whatever trance she was in and looked at me with shock and awe. I simply smiled at her and floated over to her side. I sat down next to her and she remained completely silent. I placed the rose down next to her and quickly spit out some blood off the barn and looked back to her smiling. She looked at the rose and then back at me. She smiled with an unsure look on her face.

" you're a fool..." She said staring at the rose with a now sincere look spread across her face all complete with a beautiful smile. Some of the darkness around her engulfed her and she seemed to mature into a full grown mare. She was skinny with long black hair and beaming red eyes. She looked at me and smiled. She picked up the rose with her magic and the thorns fell right off. She smiled and placed it between her ear.

" just because I do foolish things doesn't make me a fool." I said smiling. She giggled and opened her smile up slightly before closing it and looking at me with a serious look.

" I can't thank you enough for helping me you know." She said.

" I'm doing what's right..." I said. " watching you suffer is bad enough. But you shouldn't have to make others suffer with you, it doesn't help."

" I know, for as long as I've lived, nopony cared about me." She said. " the truth behind my story is that my parents were horrible ponies, I could only escape them in the forest, they would come back before night fell, so I would come back so they didn't know I was gone, they always had to give me a foal sitter because they didn't trust me on my own, and my foal sitter was a prevented drunk who couldn't care about me, he just got paid to sit around and drink himself dead."

" alba I..." I tried to stop her because tears had started streaming down her face now.

" I never had any friends and the only one I did have pushed me into a reflecting pool and laughed while I was torn apart and tortured for what felt like hours and hours." She said now fully crying. There was nothing I could do but just sit there and let her vent all of her emotions. " I only wanted to be loved..." She said crying. " I only wanted a friends, all of my life I've had to deal with bullies, abuse, and I had to live in a broken home for all my life. My parents fought all the time, I hated the both of them but I didn't want to hear them fight."

" alba..." I said trying one more time but it didn't work.

" now I'm stuck like this... Forced to feel the pain of that one night for the rest of my everlasting life. I moved on hating ponies of all kinds, its only right that they made me out as a monster... Because that's all that I am now... A FUCKING MONSTER!" She roared as she expelled great amounts of magical energy that she used to completely block out the moonlight and turn the whole area around us pitch black. She was crying now with tears falling from her eyes and hitting the ground. Soon... She finally calmed down, but she was still crying frantically. The moon became visible again and the energy coming from her stopped. She poured out tears as she kept crying and hanging her head down low. " and now I can see to what I really am... And I hate myself for what I've become... Because of me, ponies like thorn and rose... Two of the nicest ponies I've ever met, two ponies who don't see me as a monster... They can't have a kid, because they're afraid of me... Who knows how many other ponies out there are like them, who knows how many lives I've ruined like that... I... I can't stand it." She said.

Large tears rolled down her face and she fell to the ground crying and covering her head with her hooves. I sat there and watched the whole thing, I watched this mare pour her heart out at me and just sat there. Hearing her made me think about how many times I made the wrong choices and how many times ponies got hurt because of me. I laid down in front of her as she started crying and placed my head up against hers so our foreheads pressed against each others. All of those feeling got to me too and tears started rolling down my face and I whimpered slightly trying to keep them back. She moved her head back and looked at me, she had stopped crying now and looked at me while I cried. She seemed confused and even more hurt than before, but mostly confused.

" w-why... Why are you crying?" She asked sniffing back her tears.

" because I don't want to see you like this..." I said.

" you don't even know me too well... Why are you crying for me?" She asked.

" I'm not crying for you..." I said. " I'm crying because you remind me of my own darkness..." I said. " I've made poor decisions in the past, and those caused my loved ones to she'd tears, and for all of those times I've built up tears inside of me as well, but I can't let the world know, so I keep them bottled inside of me... All of the fighting, the violence, anger, hatred, sadness, disappointment, and regret that I keep inside of me is killing me, I eats away at me like a cancer, but I keep it inside because I know it would break anyone who saw my true emotions." I said. I sniffed back my tears as well.

" crimson you..."

" alba... Promise me something." I said cutting her off. She was stunned silent and just looked at me. I picked my head up and she could see the tears rolling down my face. " promise me, that when we get through this... Promise me you'll find the forgiveness of the ones you've hurt... I can't find forgiveness yet, because I know that it's too early for that, I would only hurt the ones I loved again, and they would be truly devastated... But please... Do it for yourself." I laid there and everything was silent for a moment.

" I... I will." She said smiling and breaking the silence. " crimson... I'm sorry." She said. I picked my head up in confusion and looked at her. She gave me a heart warming smile that made me slowly smile as well. " I'm sorry I caused you this pain, and the pain I've caused you before." She said. " I'm also sorry that you have to carry my burdens with me, if it was possible to return to the place where my soul died then I would. But I cannot return to that place on my own... Nopony knows what would befall me there... Thank you crimson." She said.

" alba.. I... Mmff." I said before she cut me off with a deep kiss. She pressed her lips up against mine and took me off my guard and caught me by surprise. My eyes grew wide for a second as she closed hers and poured her soul into this one kiss. I didn't resist and I gave back too. This was the only time she could ever feel love and she wanted to be happy, I didn't want her to suffer without knowing what love was either. She leaned forward even more and started pushing me back. It's a good thing the roof of the barn is flat so we don't start rolling off. She placed her hooves over my own and started pressing her tongue Into my mouth. Our tongues danced around for a short while before she pushed herself forwards and I rolled over. She fell on top of me and held herself close to me. She looked down at me with a smile on her face. She blocked out the covered over the moon behind her but not all of it. The moon was huge this night, the radiant moonlight flashed past her and she pressed her hooves against my chest and she glowed brightly from the moonlight. The light wrapped around her and gave her a majestic blueish glow.

Her hair hung down from her head like threads of black shadows that covered over my face like curtains of darkness. She inched herself closer to me and pressed her lips against me again and we locked into a deep kiss. She started shifting and grinding her hips agains try own and a spike of pleasure washed over my body. Even though I wasn't sure, my body was rearing and ready to go, and so was hers. She pulled herself away from my lips and brought her head down to my neck. Her warm breath washed over my neck and gave me the shivers. She bit on my neck lightly and shifted her hips into position. The tip of my cock rested on my stomach and she stabbed her lower lips across it making it nice and wet. She laid the tip of it against her opening and she slowly started pushing me into her. She winced and bit down harder on my neck causing more pain then pleasure. She kept pushing my length into her until I was fully up engulfed my her pulsating pussy. The walls of her vagina pulsed rhythmically forcing waves of pleasure to lapse through my body without her having to even do anything yet. Her face was glowing vividly and her cheeks lit up a bright red as she held her eyes closed tightly as she tried getting used to the new sensation she was feeling.

She let out a soft moan and laid her hooves over my chest and gave me another big kiss on the lips. She moaned again softly and she started slightly shifting her hips up and down making her face even more flushed red. I could feel both of our heartbeats picking up speed and beating together rhythmically. She let out a soft moan in my mouth and slowly pulled herself away. She placed her hooves on my chest and pressed down for leverage. She started bucking her hips up and down and had a pleasure and pain filled expression on her face, she seemed uncomfortable. She let out a shrill moan which sounded like she felt. I looked down to see a trickle of blood running down the base of my shaft. I placed my hooves on her and she stopped and opened her eyes.

" alba... If this is hurting you then stop." I said and she just looked at me.

" it's fine crimson..." She said a bit frantically.

" but you bleeding." I said. She just leaned in and planted a deep kiss on my lips for only a few seconds before pulling away only inches from my face.

" please crimson..." She said looking at me with her big red eyes. " I need this so bad... Please." She said with a single tear in her right eye. I looked at her and felt a sharp guilty feeling running through me. That soon turned into a different feeling, some strange emotion that made me grasp her and roll her over onto her back and force myself back into her causing her to let out a sharp yelp. Her face was flush red again and she let out a pleasure filled moan. I don't know what made me do that, pity, kindness...regret. The more I think about it, she is a lot like me, and we've both suffered, so why don't we deserve to be happy. At least she deserves to be happy, I'm not okay with this because it will haunt me forever, but I'm too nice to deny her happiness before she is laid to rest. I started to buck my hips slowly making sure I don't hurt her. She let out soft moans of pleasure as our bodies brushed and rubbed up against each other. She quivered slightly before letting out a deep moan right before i felt a burst of warm liquid against my ground and lower stomach. She went limp for a second but returned to strength as I started to slow down my pace.

" please... Don't stop." She said noticing me slowing down. " I want you to be happy too... Please." She said in a weak voice. Her voice wasn't necessarily weak, more though she was dazed, lost in pleasure, and in the afterglow of ecstasy. I picked my pace back up still taking it slowly but as I kept thrusting myself into her I became overwhelmed with pleasure and started picking up my pace. She began moaning lightly and she reached up and kissed my neck. I moved my head over and brushed up against hers as I bucked my hips harder and harder. The let out another shrill and deep moan as another burst of warm liquid covered the base of my cock. She grew a bit faint and weak. She was completely taken over by pleasure, I'm pretty sure she couldn't even feel the cool night air or the wooden roof top rubbing against her back. I thrust myself into her harder and harder and I felt a well of pleasure pulsing up inside of me. I kept at my current pace which was considerably fast.

" please... Don't hold back..." She said in a weak voice, a truly weak voice lost in a sea of pleasure. I gave her a big kiss on the mouth and rested my head up against hers. I pushed my whole length into her as quickly as I could over and over. I felt the pleasure in me building up and I was going to burst soon. I too started to make a few grunting noises and moans as well as her. We managed to keep it relatively quiet however. Her eyes were closed, not shut, she wasn't forcing the, closed, but they were just closed, like she was sleeping. She opened up her eyes and look up at me with her big red eyes. She glowed vibrantly in the moonlight as I let out one last main and forced myself deep inside of her. I burst my load in her and grew weak for a short while. She too let out a deep moan of pleasure and grew weak. Once I stopped pumping her full of my seed I stopped and started taking a few deep breaths. She was breathing very heavily too and her breath blew onto my neck just like before.

She was laying there spread out and weak. I pulled my penis out of her and it grew flaccid and returned to its normal state. I bit of cum started to dribble out of her folds and I picked her up. I put all of my remaining strength into flying us off the roof and to the bard doors. I pushed them open with a bit of magic and looked inside. The barn was empty and quiet now, everything was quiet. The others hadn't come in to rest yet or look for us. Off in the distance behind us was a faint glow coming from the farmhouse. I floated into the ban with a very weak and tired alba in my hooves. She remained in her grow up form. I floated over to a large pile of hay and laid her down in the straw. She curled up innocently and smiled. Physically exhausted now, my wings failed me and I ended up falling right into the pile of straw next to her. I smiled and closed my eyes.

" c-crimson..." Said alba causing me to sprout back to life for a few more seconds to look over to her. When I looked over I saw that she had a big smile on her face. " thank you..." She said leaning over and giving me on least little kiss on the lips before resting her head on my chest and placing one hoof on,y stomach. She closed her eyes and nodded off to sleep with a smile on her face. I know the look on her face, it's the utter definition of happiness... I see it more often than other ponies. You can only make that smile once you've truly lost it all. Only when you know true pain can you then know true happiness. And her true happiness, truly makes me happy. I ended up falling asleep as well with a bright smile on my face too. I slowly started fading away until I was in a world of dreams and bliss.

I stayed in that dream world of blissful ignorance until my body started pulling me back to life and I began regaining all of my senses. I could feel a presence I front of me. It must be Alba waking up next to me. The thought made me smile slightly before I let out a deep yawn and I could feel everything around me now. The itchy straw poking my back and the cool morning air. The chirping of birds and a very loud... Sound... From the oxen, I don't really know what sound an ox makes really. It's a weird sort of moo... But, not like a cow... More like, well... And ox. Anyway, I soon became aware and not only could I feel Alba's presence I front of me but I could feel the weight of her hooves on the straw next to me and the gentle breeze of her breath. Then... As my senses started tuning themselves better I felt some weight on my chest and stomach. I made it out to be a head and hoof... But if... Then that means. Without sparing any time I shot my eyes open and my smile faded to see twilight staring me in the face. The expression spread across her face beckoned death. In other words, she was fucking pissed.

"Crimson!" she shouted out. Her words cut through my ears. "I can't believe you…" she said. I knew it… this is it, this is how I die. She's going to kill me now, I can tell. she probably went to check on us and saw me and alba having sex on top of the barn and now she's going to kill me…crap. Oh well, I have to man up, and take this like a real stallion.

"Twilight… I uh… I can explain." I said nervously.

"you ran off last night without saying anything and leaving thorn and rose worried sick about you, then we find you here with alba, who might I add is a bit older than we last saw her… and now your face is all cut up… crimson… what the hell?" she said. I laid there confused out of my mind waiting for her eyes to just start glowing with anger… but she seemed calmer now. She must not know… I don't know who to thank for my fortune… but thanks whoever is making me the luckiest bastard on the earth. I stayed silent for a mere second more only to think of a series of quick lies to tell her if I should.

"Uh… sorry twilight." I said. "Me and Alba were just out here talking about our feelings and I guess the time got ahead of us and we ended up falling asleep… sorry." I said.

"Alright…well… why is your face all cut up?" she asked.

"Oh… before I talked to Alba I plucked her this rose out of thorns rose garden out there, it's a mess of thorns, and I couldn't pick it with my hoof, so I used my teeth… it seemed like a good idea at the time." I said. Twilight giggled and smiled at me.

"You're an idiot." She said lying down in the straw with me. As she moved I could see it was still dark outside, not as dark, but certainly very early now, she must have just woken up and decided she needed to talk to me or something.

"Alba said something just like that last night." I said.

"She called you an idiot." Twilight said with a smug look and an equally smug smile on her face.

"well… not exactly." I said rolling my hoof. "she called me a fool. And do you know what I said back to her?" I asked.

"please don't tell me you called her a cunt or something." She said.

"what the… no… I cant believe you would say that." I said. she started giggling.

"it was a joke… what did you say to her?" she asked

"I said, just because I do foolish things doesn't make me a fool." I said looking twilight in her deep purple eyes.

"I think it does." She said. I let out a big sigh.

"I thought you of all ponies would get that." I said.

"no.. I do… that was another joke… and its true, crimson you're not a fool, you're my fried, everyponies friend. And you're a great guy… you just don't think about things sometimes… and you always end up the same way… hurt." Said twilight resting her head next to my neck. " I don't like seeing you hurt crimson,.. I know every time you'll be okay… but… it still makes me worried. Because whenever you do get hurt, that one thought goes through my mind, that one thought that makes me wonder that if you fell… what I would do if you never got back up… what would any of us do if you never got back up."

"That won't ever happen… I promise." I said.

"When everypony thought you were dead for those months after my brother's wedding other ponies just broke down… it was horrible. I walked around with a hollow and empty feeling inside of my gut for as long as I can remember… so promise me right now." She said looking me dead in the eyes with a serious face. "Promise me that you will get back up… promise me that you'll be there until the end." She said. She had become very serious with emotions and I felt like if I said no then she would break down and cry.

"Yes… I promise, I'll always get back up and ill do so with a smile on my face for all to see… you can bet your life on that." I said with a big smile. A small tear rolled down the side of twilight face and I used my wing to brush the tear away. She smiled and leaned over to give me a small kiss of the cheek. She laid her head back down by my neck and closed her eyes.

"Thank you crimson…" she said smiling. I smiled too and closed my eyes. I rested my head above hers and grasped her tight. On my other side Alba who must have been awake tapped me on the shoulder causing me to look over to see her smiling face. She smiled at me and gave me a small kiss on the lips, twilight luckily didn't notice. Alba pulled herself closer to me and hugged my body like a stuffed bear. I could feel all three of our hearts beating in harmony. Both twilights breath and Alba's washed over me and their warm bodies kept me nice and warm too. I flapped out both of my wings and used them to cover the two mares. We all had big smiled on our faces as we kept our eyes closed to slowly drift back to sleep. However, this touching moment didn't last too long. Soon the entire barn echoed with a thundering slam followed by an ear shattering bell ring. It scared everypony awake, even thunder and martukus who were sleeping over on the other side of the barn in separate piles of straw. We all shot up at the same time and looked over to the source of the noise. To our surprise the sky outside was just beginning to light up. The thing that had waked us up was nopony other than thorn who had kicked open the barn doors and was ringing a large and rusted brass bell. Shocked that he would see Alba I looked over to her as to warn her to change back. When I looked at her she was smiling at me, she was also about a few feet shorter with stubby legs and a big childish smile… she's not just smart but quick too.

"Alright y'all… time to get up… breakfast!" he said. That was a good enough excuse to get up as any. I shrugged and got up with the others. We started making our way out of the barn and to the farmhouse. I looked down at alba who still had that rose in her ear, just like twilight fire dais she kept between her ear. Looking at Alba while she was a small filly was a bit… well… unsettling… considering the events that took place the other night. I just have to keep reminding myself that its only a disguise and that she's over 500 years old… which still doesn't help as much. I shook the idea from my head so it doesn't distract me and I moved onward towards the house. Once we got to the house rose was in the kitchen with a towering plate of pancakes sitting on the table. We walked in and the others eyed the pancakes with ravenous hunger and insatiable want.

"sweet merciful god of flap jacks…" said thunder taking a seat at the table.

"Oh I'm sorry…" said rose looking back from the sink where she was cleaning up the dishes. "Did I make too much?" she asked worriedly.

"Not enough if you ask me." Said martukus. Also taking a seat. We laughed and soon everypony took a seat at the table. We distributed the pancakes evenly and everypony started to dig in. we passed along syrup and butter and we ate pancakes like nopony has ever eaten pancakes before… maybe not, but seriously… we destroyed those pancakes. There was nothing left… no survivors. I finished my whole plate of pancakes just like everypony else, even Alba who received just as many pancakes as the rest of us completely wiped out her plate.

"Hot damn that was good." I said resting back in my chair.

"Agreed…" said thunder and twilight together. We sat there for a while and talked about a bunch of things. I had to explain to thorn and rose that the quest we were on was going to defeat the dark lady that they feared so much, but I didn't have the heart to tell them that the dark lady was the little filly sitting right next to them. We talked about the matter for a while and I assured them to not be afraid of starting a family. It took a bit but after some time I managed to relieve them and they both thanked me. We carried on a few conversations over tea and cookies, but before long I had to end the conversation, it was time to get going. I finished the rest of my tea and stood up from the chair. Everypony in the room was quiet now and set their eyes on me.

"Thank you… thorn and rose… for everything." I said. "It means a lot to find such generous ponies such as yourselves, but… we should be going now, we ant afford to waste time. Even though it wasn't even noon yet and it was still very early we needed to get going, we can't waste time.

"Alright… I see." Said thorn. "Well y'all should get going now if you're going to save the day on time." He said smiling.

"you aren't going to give us a ride into town?" asked twilight who was getting up now with the others.

"No ma'am… those oxen are slow, not as fast as us ponies… I only use them to carry around heavy loads of crops and produce across long distances… no point in using them to carry y'all to the city; it would be faster on hoof."

"Alright... Then this is goodbye." I said.

"Not necessarily… I'm convinced that we'll meet again." He said

"I'm sure we will…" I said. We started to move out of the house and we all gathered outside of the farmhouse in the bright and early morning. There was a light gust in the air that cooled us all down. "next time I sail to stallasia, ill be sure to come and visit… and the next time you're visiting in equestria, look for a town called ponyville… you can find me there." I said as me and the other started heading down the path away from the farmhouse with all of our bags and supplies.

"We'll be sure to… take care… and good luck." Shouted thorn since we were a distance away now. I turned and smiled as we all waved goodbye. We turned back and rounded the corner back onto the big dirt road towards the city which was now very visible from this point. There weren't any tall buildings, maybe a few but they were wide spread. It was mostly a large mass of building. It looked like the place to be in this country. We started walking down the path with smiles on our faces. We made a good distance from the farmhouse to the city in a few minutes but it would probably take us an hour of two on hoof to walk there, that's not much of a problem, since it's so early, we would probably make it there before noon. As we walked I felt the cool breeze blow my hair back and press against my face. The warm sunlight shone down on us and beat down on our necks and backs. The chirping of birds filled the air and it was starting to feel like summer. Which is strange since we left the equestrian continent towards the end of winter, this place must be naturally warm like this, and it must be nice? I looked over to Alba who was still a small filly.

"are you sure you want to stay like that?" I asked directing my question to her. She looked down at herself for a second and smiled.

"Oh.. Forgot I was like this… I guess I could change." She said. She leapt around and then jumped into the tall wheat field to our left and completely disappeared. There was a bit of rustling in the tall wheat and there was a strange sound coming from the field, its best described as sounding like magic. A magical sound emitted form the field as the light around it seemed to fade for a second before everything went back to normal. There was more rustling and soon a long and slender mare stepped out of the wheat with grey fur and black hair all tied together with big red eyes. "Ah… much better." She said with a smile. She stopped for a second to stretch her back by leaning back and arching her spine much how a dog stretches. We kept moving ahead and when she was good she trotted back over and joined us. She still seemed a bit childish at heart but she had the mindset and body of a fully grown female. She was like a teenager if you think about it. Thunder and martukus glared at her questionably with suspicion but she just played cute and winked at them. They froze for a second and Alba giggled. They regained composure and caught up with us. Twilight tried to stop herself from giggling but she couldn't help but put a hoof to her mouth. I just smiled and walked on.

As we walked Alba and twilight stayed lose to me while thunder and martukus now took the back of the group. We stayed to the left side of the road incase a carriage or cart comes by. We kept making our way down the road and the air was warm and dry. The sun beat down hard on the road and lit up the world. A small gust of wind picked up and blew up against our faces. The wind blew my hair back and soon settled to a cool breeze. The golden fields of wheat that bordered the road soon came to an abrupt end and there was just a small strip of ordinary field with a white fence running along the length of it. On the other side of the fence there were trees, apple trees. The air started to smell sweet like the apples growing on the trees. The trees soon became thick and started covering over the path. We kept walking and looking around. As I gazed around my eyes glazed over a big green apple hanging from one of the trees. I smiled and flapped my wings to fly up to it. I flew up and plucked the apple from the tree before touching back down between twilight and alba. I held the apple up with my magic and took a big bite of it.

"What are you doing?" Asked twilight glaring at me.

" what?" I said with my mouth still full of apple. " I like the green ones better... Oh sorry, did you want one too?" I asked swallowing.

"that's stealing you know." She replied.

"oh c'mon... It's one apple." I said. " it's not like I stole the whole tree... You need to relax a little... What's got you so worked up?" I asked.

" uh... Nothing, never mind." She said looking away with a strange look.

" do you wanna talk about it?" I asked taking another bite of the green apple.

" uh... No... It's fine, I guess the stress of this all is finally starting to get to me." She said.

" I was wondering when you would snap... Don't worry you'll be fine." Said thunder behind me.

" she isn't going to snap." I said. I turned back and took another bite of my apple and looked over at twilight. " sure you don't want an apple?" I asked.

" if I wanted one I would have gotten one already." She said smiling back at me. Meanwhile alba behind us shot out a tentacle of darkness Into one of the apple trees and grabbed a big juicy red apple. She pulled it over and held it up with her dark tentacle. I looked over just as she sunk her teeth into it and it made a satisfying crunch. She chewed it with a smile on her face and swallowed.

" I like the red ones more," she said smiling. I smiled back at her.

" I'll have to agree with her." Said martukus using his magic to pick one of the red apples from the trees. " the red ones are better."

" what, do you guys have rocks for tastebuds?" Asked thunder picking a big green apple from the tree. " the red ones don't have enough kick to them, the green ones are better." Thunder took a big bite out of the green apple and some of the juices dribbled down his chin but he wiped them off and smiled. We all looked to twilight.

" well twi... It's dead even, your the tie breaker... Which one is better, the green ones, or the red?" I asked. She looked over at me with a bit of uncertainty, but smiled and her horn started to glow.

" I like the red ones more." She said pulling a big red apple form one of the trees with her magic and sinking her teeth into it. Martukus and alba laughed and me and thunder smiled.

" in your face." Said alba nudging me. I smiled and nudged her back lightly. Thunder and martukus got into a bit of a nudging fight after martukus stuck his tongue out at thunder. We laughed for a bit and ate our apple that we...borrowed. I took one last bite of my apple and threw the core back into the fields to decompose. The others finished theirs too and did the same. We kept making our way down the road with smiles on our faces and our stomachs satisfied for the time. The city was growing ever closer and we should probably be there in the next half hour. My hooves where starting to get a bit sore but I pulled up some energy to rejuvenate my body and relax my muscles. I took one more step and then my ears started to pick something up. They perked up and twitched as I stopped. I stood there and the others stopped too. I turned my head so that I could find pick up on the sound more easily. It sounded like a cart, I could hear the turning wheels running down the road, but... I heard more than just one set of wheels. It sounded like an entire caravan was coming.

" do you guys hear that?" I asked.

" yeah... Sounds like a couple carriages are coming this way." Said thunder.

" no... It's more than just a couple." I said. The noise soon grew louder and ver the crescent of the hill a large and fancy looking carriage came flying down the road, followed by one after another. They where being pulled by ponies in silver armor. The carriages seemed to take up the whole road. " move!" I ordered dodging out of the way and hopped over the fence into the apple orchard. The others did the same just in time for the first carriage to come barreling down the road. Then another followed it, and another. Carriage after carriage rolled down the road. Each one was exactly the same being pulled by two ponies in silver and jewel encrusted armor. These carts must be pulling important ponies, but why are there so many? We sat there waiting for the carts to clear the street. We waited, about fifteen carriages later the train of carts ended and we hopped back onto the road. We looked down the road to see the long train of carriages heading to the city trailing dust behind them.

" what the hell was that?" Said twilight.

" seemed like they were in a rush." Said thunder.

" those were awfully fancy for such a small city." Said martukus. " they couldn't be royalty could they?" He asked looking over to me. I just kept my gaze on the carts.

" no... I don't like this." I said. " something feels wrong... And my guess is that were going to end up finding out whether we like it or not."

" yeah probably." Replied twilight.

" we shouldn't take chances, if we can convince the ponies here that were adventurers then we can make ourselves renowned off the bat, which might help us avoid complications." I said massing my energy and glowing brightly. I shone like a star and bright white armor appeared all over my body coating me in a full suit of spiked armor. I put on my skull mask and the hood and cape and flexed out my wings which blew brightly and sent out a flurry of white sparks. The symbols on my body started lighting up and I took a deep breath in and out. Martukus had the same idea and was wearing his similar black armor and hood.

" don't go hogging all of the fame." Said alba. " I am the lady of the dark after all." She said smiling. She blinked and suddenly her red eyes where nothing but black as a gust of wind picked up our shadows and covered her in darkness. Once the darkness dissipated she was wearing a full metal dress. It was like a normal wedding styled dress... But made of black steel. She wore a gold necklace of a skull and her eyes stayed black and hollow. She blinked one more time and her red eyes returned to her.

" hey wait a minute..." Said twilight. " me and thunder don't have any armor." She said. I forgot about that.

" would you like some?" I asked in a serious tone.

" uh... Sure." She said taken back a bit.

" what would you too like?" I asked.

" something slick..." Said thunder getting a bit excited. " like my old armor... That is now destroyed." He said.

" I think a regular battle Mage dress would do for me." Said twilight.

" okay... Hold on." I said. I blinked once and my eyes started glowing through my mask and rays of light shot down from the sky and engulfed twilight and thunder. They soon became invisible from outside and I worked my magic. The thoughts of their armor raced through my mind and they started glowing brightly. The light soon faded and they stood there fully clothed in a cloud of smoke. Once the smoke was gone we saw what they were wearing. I gave thunder his original dragon scale armor back but instead of being all dark and scratched it was vibrantly white and well polished, like brand new. Twilight was now wearing a rather tight dress with lots of ribbons on it. It was dark colored like her natural colors but with white stripes. It was mostly cloth with some protective leather padding underneath just in case. "There how's that?" I asked rather exhausted now from using up some magical energy.

"Wow... This is amazing, I love it." Said twilight smiling.

"It's just like my old armor... Nice!" Exclaimed thunder. I smiled at the two of them and we started to make our way back down the road once again. It didn't take us too long before we reached the entrance to the city. There wasn't a big fancy gate or anything; it was just a path leading into the city. I stopped for a second and used my senses to look over the city. The others stopped too and looked over at me. They didn't say anything, they just looked. I could definitely tell that something felt strange, I don't know what… but I don't trust the place. I took a deep breath in and out and started moving onward once again. The others still made no comment and we all moved into the city in a group. There were a lot of houses here that looked pretty nice. The building that I could see up ahead seemed quite large. There were large stone houses with archways and paths winding all around the place. I looked around and saw all the ponies walking around and they all gave us strange looks. And by strange looks, I mean really strange looks. These ponies looked at us like they were confused and unsure of how they should feel about us.

"Kimiko… look out." said a mare to our side. I looked over to see her staring at something in the street and I felt something in front of us. I stopped abruptly and looked down to see a little filly standing in the street. She was brown with dark blue hair and magenta eyes. If I hadn't stopped I might have stepped on her and probably killed her. She looked up to us and stuck out like a sore thumb. She gave us this kind of smile that beckoned hope and happiness. The little filly's mother ran out and nudged her daughter along to the other side of the street. "Let's go kimiko… lets go." She said.

"Wait… are you here to help us?" asked the little filly running from her mother back over to me.

"Huh?" I said looking down to the adorable filly who is to blissfully ignorant to know that I could pose an immediate danger to her.

"Kimiko don't bother them." Said the filly's mother. "Im sorry… don't mind her." Said the mother sympathetically dragging her filly away. The other four behind me exchanged looks between each other and waited for me to do the talking.

"Wait ma'am…" I said stopping the mare; she seemed to freeze solid like she was staring death in the eye. "What's the matter… is something wrong?" I asked.

"No no… everything's fine, you know how children can be, don't worry everything's just fine here." She said nervously. I looked her dead in the eyes.

"So there's something wrong then…" I suggested. She seemed to freeze for a second.

"No... I said there's nothing wrong." She said shaking her head in denial. Out of the corner of my eye I could see twilight giving me a strange looks as if she was confused to what I was doing.

"But there is something wrong… I've been an adventurer long enough to know when a pony needs help… and the look in your eyes is begging me to help you." I said. "Plus… you're kind of a bad liar." I said shrugging and smiling.

"You… you're an adventurer… all five of you." She said trembling now. She seemed to be in a state of denial and disbelief. "I can't believe it… thank avo." She said smiling now. All the other ponies around were starting to lighten up too.

"Of course we're adventurers." Said twilight. "What else would we be?"

"I thought you were all part of the silver saber." She said looking around conspicuously.

"What's the silver saber?" I asked.

"A group of royal jackasses that have been running this city into the ground for the last five years." Said an elderly mare from the left of us. We turned our attention to her as she walked over with her cane. She looks like she's seen better days, that's for sure. "If you five are here to stop them and run them out of town then we would truly be in your debt, and you would have the blessings of the whole town."

"We didn't come here to stop them…" I said. The mood quickly changed back to its original depressed state. "But if there's a problem than we will take care of it, I promise you that." I said. And just like that the mood started rising one more. "All we ask in return is a quick method of transportation and a place where we can resupply." I said.

"You could take the cullis gate." Said one mare to the right. Already we started gathering a crowd of eager and hopeful ponies.

"Cullis gate?" I said. "What's that?"

"It's a portal that links all the cities together." Said the mother of the little filly from before.

"Won't be any use…" said the elderly mare. "They shut them all down; they don't want adventurers like you five to just teleport in and out of this city willy-nilly and cause trouble. They know that the woods surrounding the whole city are too dangerous to take a hike through for most ponies… but you made it. You must be able to help us right." She said.

"Well it seems that we have a conflict of interests…" I said. "I was hoping to get through this city quickly but seeing as how we need the cullis gates to work and you need somepony to deal with these silver saber's it would appear we've reached an impasse… so we will help you." I said. The other ponies started to silently cheer in hope. "But can I ask what the silver saber has done that is so wrong?" I asked.

"They came into the city five years ago and took over." Said the filly's mother. "They used this as a station to commute trade through. With trade moving through the city and not into it, the economy has plummeted into the ground and forced us all into poverty... And it all began with those damn crossroads they built in the middle of town."

"Where are the crossroads?" asked twilight.

"You're standing on them deary." Said the elderly mare. I glanced at the road and did notice it had been one of the largest roads here. "This is the north west road that leads right into heart of the beast. A mass trading hub set up in the center of the city." She said pointing her cane down the road to a huge coliseum that towered over everything else in the city.

"It's a massive trading area that wandering travelers walk into and trade what they please. And of course none of them are actually merchants in the city or townsfolk, so whatever business is done in that place is separate from the city and doesn't help the economy whatsoever."

"What do they gain from this?" asked thunder speaking up now.

"They put a large tax on the four entrances to the trading hub so that they make sure they're making some money too." Said the mare.

"it was bad enough when they set up the hub, but now the ponies that guard it patrol the entire city like they own the place…" said the elderly mare. I looked down towards the huge coliseum and gazed at it with intensity. Just then two large ponies in silver armor came strolling down the street. They rushed over and pushed through the crowd.

"What's going on here… break it up?" One of them shouted. Their voices instantly struck fear into the hearts of the other ponies as they all backed away and cowered in fear of the two armored and well armed guards. "I said break it up." He said pushing a stallion onto the ground. He stood above him like he was going to kick him.

"HEY!" I shouted causing everything to become silent. I put a bit of energy into that shout so they heard me right. "you leave that poor stallion alone… if you're going to pick on somepony… then pick on me." I said. The two guards looked over to me with anger in their eyes and they walked over.

"You there…" one of them said. "You five are violation of several laws." Said the guard.

"Yeah… which ones?" I asked.

"Public disturbance, unauthorized organization of a party, and possession of war like material, disregard for the guaa…" he stopped there. He didn't really stop; I got tired of his voice, so while he was distracted reading off fake laws I picked my head up and crashed my forehead down on his own head. I head-butted him so hard he fell right to the ground unconscious… hopefully, even his helmet was dented in to the spot that I hit him. He fell silent and the other guard took a step back as his eyes shrunk into his head. The town's ponies looked at me like I had just committed murder… I might as well have.

"You just… but…" the guard stammered. "You just knocked him out in one blow."

"Yeah I know… I was there." I said taking a few steps towards the guard who now drew his spear and pointed it at me. The other four just watched me like it was nothing.

"Get back… I'm warning you." He said.

"You're not going to stab me with that now, are you? That isn't very nice." I said smiling. He was shaking in his own boots so badly I almost felt like laughing at him. While he was distracted at me and scared out of his mind I shot two tentacles of light out from underneath me. One of the tentacles yanked the spear out of his hooves and the other one tied around his hind legs and hoisted him up into the air. He screamed in terror and I threw the spear to the side of the road. I pulled him in close to me.

"Oh god… avo please, put me down." He said.

"don't worry I will…" I said. "first you got to tell me what I want to know.

"I will… ill tell you anything… just, please… don't hurt me." He said. He was pathetic, its ponies like him that disgust me. He was so scared he looked like he was about to cry. In fact he started trembling and shaking as a transparent yellow liquid started running down his silver armor and dribbling across his face onto the ground… I can't believe the guy just pissed all over himself. The other ponies around us tried not to laugh but they started giggling and chuckling. I could tell now that this guy was on the verge of tears.

"Dude… gross." Said thunder.

"Eewww…" said twilight and Alba in unison.

"you could at least have some dignity…" I said. "Oh well… too late now, that's gone now just like your bladder." I said making a joke and laughing at it. "Now… tell me, who is running the silver saber?" I asked.

"Our leader… general saber!" he said frantically.

"and where is he?" I asked.

"in the trading hub, it's also a command hub, he's at the top. That large square section that sits higher than the rest… now please put me down." He begged squealing his secrets like a pig. I just smiled lightly and the tentacle around his legs vanished and he fell to the ground landing face first into his puddle of piss below him. He frantically scrambled to his hooves and ran away on the verge of tears. The ponies cheered. Seeing that must have been a real boost to their confidence. I smiled and turned to face twilight and the others.

"Well it looks like we've got a quest on our hooves." I said making the ponies gathered around us smile and cheer some more. I used a tentacle of light to grab the bags strapped to my waist and unbuckle them. I held them up and used another tentacle to tear them in half. "I need two of you to go and boost the economy, go and distribute all the money in these bags to the rest of the town… twilight and Alba can you do this?" I asked.

"sure crimson…" twilight said as she and alba nodded and agreed. I passed them the bags and looked to thunder and martukus.

"I need you two to go and take out any guards in the city and block the crossroads in any way you can." I said. "try not to kill any of the guards… just beat them up until they're out cold, if they do pose a threat though, then don't hold anything back."

"Sure thing…" said martukus.

"Ha… sounds like fun." Added thunder. I nodded at them and they both bolted off to do their job.

"Twilight can a see your bags please?" I asked.

"Sure thing." She said tossing me her saddlebags.

"I need to play the part of a trader, but I can promise that the trading hub and general saber are going down." I said strapping on the bags. "We'll all meet up back here when were done." I said. The others nodded and went off to do their jobs I bolted off down the street towards the large hub ready to take it down. I ran down the street getting closer and closer to the hub as I started devising my plan. I do need to take the thing down, but I should probably scare everypony out of their first before tearing it down. As I sprinted towards the coliseum trading hub I started to slow down since I was getting much closer now and I didn't want to attract any attention to myself. I slowed down to a slow walk and began approaching the toll gate. As I drew near a sudden wave of realization washed over my body… I can't pay the toll…CRAP! I gave all of our money to twilight and Alba. All I've got in my bags are food and lantern oil… crap. I started running ideas through my head at light speed as I slowly approached the gate, but by the time I reached the gate I still had nothing.

"Halt… you have to pay the toll." Said the guard. There were four guards. Two facing inside and two facing the outside. "The toll is 20 gold pieces." He said. If the currency here is like that of the countries bordering equestria then nopony in their right mind would step within a hundred miles of this place. I'm sure the currency is nothing like that. It can't be, after all we did do some shopping in the port a while back… well, at that time I was blind too, I don't really know… still, crap.

"Uhm…" I stammered.

"Help help… adventurers are in the city." Said a scared sounding voice to the right of me. The guards turned over to see who it was. I did the same and saw a guard running down the street with tears rolling down his cheeks and fear in his eyes. He stopped briefly and stared at me and his eyes shrunk even more. I stared at him in confusion for a second then the smell hit me. This guy reeked of piss and sadness; this was the same pony from before. "IT'S YOU!" he said sprouting to life and jumping back. "RUN!" he said turning tail and bolting. Needless to say the other guards were confused and now very suspicious of me… which gave me the perfect idea.

"Hey… who are you?" asked one of the guards shoving me. In one fell swoop and without any warning a forced a mass of energy to the surface of my body in the form of dark shadows and exploded like a bomb blowing wide open the whole entire west gate. The screaming of ponies filled the air as smoke started to funnel out of the hole I made and into the air. I walked into the trading hub with a wicked smile on my face and dark magic surrounding me. I looked in and saw the whole place was a mess of stalls and carts with ponies selling things out of the back, like one huge flee market. I walked in and all the ponies gazed at me with fear as their eyes shrunk inside of their heads. It wasn't long before a few ponies started panicking and running from their stations. I took that opportunity to use my magic to flood the place with black smoke and start flipping over stalls creating mass chaos. It wasn't long before the mass fear spread like a virus and everypony was running from my rampage. I made sure not to hurt any innocent ponies. But that didn't stop me from throwing a few stalls at some of the defending guards.

"RUN… it's some kind of monster!" yelled one guard running away from me. I started grabbing guards with my tendrils and throwing them at stalls and into boxes and barrels to knock them out, I didn't want to hurt anypony. I hid myself in my shadows and took on the role of a monster. As I walked around and started lashing out at the walls of the building and started breaking holes in the foundation to weaken it. I don't need it destroyed just yet. Most of the ponies were gone now and only guards remained. I let out a fearsome roar and exhaled fire onto all the wooden carts and stalls. The piles of wooden barrels, boxes, carts, and stalls all soon caught fire and the whole place was now a blazing inferno of darkness and fire. I smacked around the guards with my tentacles and threw them around. I noticed a large group of heavily armored guards heading my way. I turned and shot a large bolt of dark energy at them. It exploded in the middle of them in a black cloud of darkness and smoke sending them flying across the field. I let out one last fearsome roar before I heard a voice.

"You there, monster… you will pay." Said a deep voice. Curious I looked over to see a large stallion flying high above the smoke holding a large silver claymore in both hooves and wearing large silver armor. He had white hair with a grey coat and his eyes were blue, well… one of them was. The left eye was scarred and covered up with an eye patch. "You think you can come in here and destroy everything I've worked for… you will pay." He said crashing down to the ground with a large thud and picking up his claymore which he rested over his shoulder. I started laughing in a sort of demonic voice which quickly faded as I dispelled all of my shadows from me and started glowing bright white. He could now fully see me as I just glared at him with a burning gaze.

"I'm a monster?" I asked. "I'm not sure about that… but I know what you are… a filthy parasite." I said drawing the sword I keep at my side and holding it with my wings.

"A parasite… how dare you foreigner."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Only a foreigner would be so foolish enough to walk through those woods to the city." He said.

"You shouldn't judge your enemies…" I said. "Only a fool takes his enemies for granted… I can guarantee you that the second you underestimate me is the second you will fall."

"Why have you come here to destroy all that I've worked for… you must be some kind of evil that can survive in the sunlight?" He said.

"I'm evil?" I said as we circled each other with our swords drawn. "Your precious trading hub has been sucking this city dry for years… and now you think you own the place."

"This IS my city…!" he said yelling and getting quite angry. "And now you've come in and destroyed it."

"No... Just this." I said. "Back down now, and no harm will come to you… stay and fight… and I will kill you if need be."

"if you want this city so bad… you'll have to pry it from my old dead body." He roared charging at me. He swung his sword at me and I dodged it. I swung at him and he blocked. We started exchanging blows over and over without making any hits. He is a good swordspony. I swung again and again and he did too. He blocked all of my attacks, but I only parried and dodged his. That claymore of his is huge and blocking it head on would be a smart idea with my smaller blade. He swung once and I dodged out of the way but he just barely scratched my mask. I flew back and skidded slightly before lashing out at him again. I went for a strong attack but I was foolish and left my guard open. He leapt towards me while swinging his wings with all his might and ramming me. We went flying backwards and up high into the sky. He flapped his wings and carried me with him. The hit took the air out of me for a second but I caught my breath only to feel something smash into my back. He had pushed me through the wall of the trading hub and we went careening through the air. We started falling but he repositioned himself so that he bucked me towards the ground.

I fell and hit the ground with a loud thud as I bounce back a few more feet. I had landed in the middle on a crowded street. Ponies soon began clearing the way and looking in shock. I was too distracted to see that the general was heading right for me. He dived down at me from the air yelling out with a battle cry. He gripped his sword tight and reared back for a devastating blow. I quickly propped my sword up just in time to block the attack. The force of his attack started to push against my sword but I managed to redirect the energy to my left and shoved him to the side. He tumbled over himself to my left but gained his composure one last time and got back up. I too quickly got back onto my hooves. I was a bit shocked from the ordeal but I pulled myself together and ran towards him yelling out my own battle cry, once again we started clashing swords. We didn't bother to block anymore we just started hitting our swords together in the hopes to get a hit in. the clashing of iron filled the air as sparks flew from our steel and fell to the street. The other surrounding ponies gathered around and watched.

I went to slice him and let out a powerful side swipe. While he blocked it I spun around facing away from him and took him by surprise. I reared my hind legs and bucked him square in the chest. I could feel the silver armor he was wearing bend under the force of my kick. I also felt a few faint cracks from the kick through my hooves. He let out a grunt of pain as he flew back a few feet and rolled through the street. He came to a stop on his back and got back up. It was too late; I was already on top of him. I flew inches over him with my sword in my teeth. I spun in the air and slashed him across the chest. My blade ripped through his armor and he let out a cry of pain. In the air I also made the effort to buck him once more in the face to get a boost and fly forward a few inches and land on the edge of the crowd who watched intensely.

He got back up and I could see the immense hatred in his eyes. He charged at me with his sword in a flurry of slices and slashes. I dodged and parried each one. He went for the overhead strike but was too slow so I slashed a weak spot in his armor near his upper hind leg. He let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground while dropping his sword. His sword hit the ground with a clang and he hit the dirt with a thud. He went to grab his sword but I kicked it far away from him and held the tip of my blade to his throat. He looked me in the eyes with anger and I glared back at him with a confident look. The crowd around us started cheering my victory. He squirmed a bit but I kept one of my hind hooves pressed on the wound on his hind leg and placed one hoof on his chest where I slashed him. He tried pushing me off but I forced him back down and moved the tip of my blade closer to his neck.

"Alright… alright…" he said putting his hooves up in surrender. "You win…" he said. "just don't kill me… I'll do whatever ,I'll get out, I'll leave the city and never come back, just please… show mercy." He said with dignity.

"I think that you are an evil and despicable pony." I said. "but… I have no reason to truly hate you… so I will spare you, but I'm leaving you to the fate of the townsfolk. My companions have already taken out all the guards in the city and are currently distributing wealth though the city to boost the economy… I will ask that you leave this place… and one other thing." I said sheathing my sword.

"What… anything?" he asked.

"How do you activate the cullis gates?" I asked.

"Simple… it just takes a bit of magic to open them back up, any pony with magical power can activate them." He said. I glared at him one last time and stepped off of him. I turned around without saying anything and started to walk off. I took two steps before I felt a sharp pain in my lower leg which caused me to cry out in pain and fall to my knees. "Too bad you won't need It." said the general behind me. I looked back in shock to see he was now holding two sharp silver daggers, I didn't even see those. The townsfolk had horrified looks on their faces. He sunk the other knife into my other leg higher up than the other leg. I yelled in pain and he pulled the other dagger from my lower left leg and stabbed me in the flank. He climbed up me using his daggers like ice picks. He pulled them both out and stabbed me right in the back with both of them. I let out a blood curdling cry of pain as he twisted the daggers in my wounds and I coughed up a small puddle of blood. He stood up and pulled the daggers from my back. He kicked my side and I rolled over onto my back still coughing up blood and yelling in pain.

"DAMN YOU…" I said yelling out in anger and pain. He just loomed over me with a smile on his face. i felt my heart start to slow down and my body start to unwillingly relax.

"What was that you said about underestimating your opponent?" he said stabbing another dagger square in the middle of my chest. I let out another cry of pain. He smiled as I cried out in pain while he twisted the dagger in my wound. With a smile on his face he grabbed my mask and ripped it off to look me in the eye. He stabbed me again in the stomach and threw my mask onto the ground. My cry of pain slowly died down and picked up into a subtle laughter. My laughter caused his expression to change drastically. I placed both hooves over his hoof and held on. "What… what are you doing?" he asked.

"I said that the second you underestimate me… is the second you lose." I said. I blinked once and my eyes started glowing. My whole being at this point started glowing and suddenly the ground broke underneath us and light started shining through the cracks. "And you've just lost." I said.

"Wait… no." he said. I let out a fearsome shout as the ground shattered and engulfed the two of us in a great beam of light that rocketed into the sky and tore apart any clouds above. The incredible brilliance of the beam of light made everything else seem like it was nighttime. The blast shattered the ground under me and shook the earth. All I could hear were the screams of the general as the light slowly tore him apart until he had been completely disintegrated by the blast. The light washed over my body and started covering my wounds. The blast soon started to become calmer and the earth stopped shaking. The beam grew smaller and smaller until it was gone now with me standing there, fully healed and fully armed. Once the smoke cleared and the rumbling stopped and all the towns' ponies looked over to me after they stopped shielding their eyes they all began to cheer. I just smiled and sat down on the road.

They all started crowding around me and praising me for saving their town from being sucked dry. I just sat there and smiled and thanked them. A surge of pain washed back over my whole body as the wounds that were inflicted on me reopened and I coughed up a spurt of blood. The ponies around me lost their shit for a second and freaked out. I may not have been as rejuvenated as I let on, or thought. Blood started to dribble down my body and I found it difficult to breathe. Soon I lost feeling in my right hind leg which had been hit the hardest. The ponies continued to freak out but I started trying to calm them down and assured them I was fine. I stood back up but I couldn't walk on my right hind leg. The ponies finally started to calm down and offered me any medical assistance but I turned them down, I don't need it, there isn't enough time. They were desperately asking me if I needed any food, water, or even a place to sleep. I just smiled and told them I was fine.

"Crimson… hey crimson!" shouted a voice past the crowd of ponies.

"Huh?" I muttered looking past the crowd. I saw twilight, thunder, and the others walking down the road smiling and waving at me. I smiled and waved back at them.

"Oh… excuse me... Sorry, need to get through." I said making my way through the crowd that obediently parted to allow me to pass through it. Twilight and the others walked up to me with smiles on their faces. "How'd it go?" I asked them with a smile.

"Me and thunder cleared the streets of guards without killing any." Said martukus.

"Twilight and I distributed all the gold and money in these pouches to the entire city." Said Alba smiling as well.

"And you're bleeding…" said twilight with a smug look. She let out a deep sigh. " I knew that when I saw that blast of light that you had gotten into trouble." Said twilight.

"Yeah… my skill with swords isn't as great as it used to be." I said. "I kinda went overboard and disintegrated the guy… my bad… he's the only one I killed though… and he deserved it, that bastard stabbed me in the back. Really look…" I said making my armor fade away and showing twilight and the others the stab wounds in my back.

"Damnit crimson." Twilight said shoving me sparingly. "We just fixed you." She said getting a bit angry.

"Hehehe… I know… but don't worry." I said shrugging. "These wounds aren't as bad as before, I'm going to be fine." I said calming her down. She just let out a deep sigh again and the others chuckled. The next thing that we needed to do now was find one of those cullis gates the other ponies talked about. I'm sure somepony in the crowd gathered behind me could help. " uhm... Does anypony here know where we can find a cullis gate?" I asked looking off into the crowd of ponies behind me.

" yeah, there's one in the library down the street that way." Said a mare in the crowd pointing down the road.

" thank you..." I said as I gestured to my friends to follow. We moved through the crowds again and started making our way down the street. Some of the ponies started celebrating in the streets and having a great time by spreading the word and others followed us. They didn't really say anything they just followed trying to see what we would do next. We walked down the street and soon a large building started coming into view. It looked like a huge old cathedral but the sign in the front said library. I shrugged and walked up to the doors. I pushed them open and stepped inside, and what I library it was. There were books... EVERYWHERE. I could see twilights eyes widen and a huge happy smile spread across her face.

" oh my god... It's amazing." She said.

" easy girl..." I said patting her on the back. " we have work to do remember."

" hello there... How can I help you?" Asked an elderly mare form behind a desk in front of us. I looked over to her and smiled.

" hello... We need to use your cullis gate." I said.

" are you the five ponies that took down the silver sabers?" She asked giddily

" that's us..." I said confidently.

" then by all means feel free." She said. " it's this way, follow me." She said walking off to the left and disappearing behind some bookshelves. We followed her and she lead us down a path of bookshelves leading towards a few steps by a large circular overlook with large windows covering the walls. She stepped up and there on the ground was a blue glowing circle, looked a lot like a magical circle with all kinds of magic runes and symbols. " your going to need some magic to activate it." She said.

" no problem..." I replied. I stepped to the edge of the circle and closed my eyes. I focused and my body to give off a white glow. I shot my eyes open which were now glowing and a bolt of magical energy fired from my body and struck the center of the circle. The circle began to glow brighter than before and energy started to swirled inside of it before a large bolt of blue energy fired straight up into the air. Once it settled the circle now emitted a field of blue energy around it like a cylinder. " so uh... How do were this thing?" I asked.

" well I have to set the arrival zone..." She said. On the wall to the right she pulled down a large map of all of stallasia. On the map there were lots of tiny blue circles that I could assume were waypoints. " choose where you wish to go and give me a second to set it up." She said. " usually this mode of transportation is a bit expensive in stallasia depending on where your going, but I'll let you five go for free because of all your help, but I can't say the same for e other cities."

" thank you, that's very kind of you." Said twilight behind us.

" how come we don't have stuff like this in Equestria?" Asked thunder behind us. The librarian looked over to him with a curious look.

" Equestria?" She asked.

" yes... That's where we're from, we're foreigners." I said. She just smiled.

" so have you chosen yet?" She asked.

" yes... We want to get to this spot here." I said pointing to a small blue dot just off to the center of the large black X on the map.

" oh no, you don't want to go there, there's nothing out there but evil." Said the librarian.

" I know... That's where we were heading to before we helped out around here... I'm just surprised that place is an option on the map." I said.

" if you insist..." She said. " I with you all the best of luck." The librarian placed one hoof on the outer rim god the circle and to my surprise started spinning it and moving the runes. She started turning the middle circle and then finally the inner circle. The cylinder of light glowed brighter and shrunk into a tiny string of light. It soon opened up into a large circle of energy that was ready to teleport anything that walked through it.

" so... Who's first?" Asked thunder.

" I'll go first." Said martukus. He stepped past me and stood before the portal. He swallowed his fear and stepped through. There was a shockwave of energy that barely blew past us and he was gone. Twilight was the next to step through, then thunder. It was just me and alba. She looked over to me with a rather nervous look and I smiled at her. She made a faint smile to accompany mine and she stepped through the portal. I looked towards the librarian and we both exchanged a smile. I stepped forward and walked through the portal. Instead of a bright blinding light I poked my head through and around me there was a black and charred forest, and in front were my friends. I stepped all the way through and looked around. We were in some kind of ruins. Cobblestone structures lingered over us covered in moss and plants. The we stood on a stone uprising poking out of the dirt.

" so... We're here." Said twilight.

" I guess we are." I said. " alba... Do you know the way to the mirror pool?" I asked.

" n-no... I don't." She said regretfully.

" but I do..." Said a familiar voice off to the side. I looked over and saw the pure white mare with blonde hair from a few days ago. It was Roza who was hiding behind some of the ruins. She walked over with a smile on her face. " I'm glad you came." She said.

" uh... Crimson... Who's this?" Asked thunder.

" this is Roza... She's the other half of alba... Roza and alba are the same pony."

" is there a story behind this?" Asked twilight.

" yes... There is... But there isn't much time." Said Roza. " this place is the most dangerous place on this planet to be in when night falls." She said. " we must go quickly." She ordered stepping off of the ruins and heading towards the charred forest. I shrugged it off and followed her, the others did too. Alba kept her head down the whole time and looked around the place like she was waiting for something to pop out and attack her. I can't blame her, this place is the cradle of her suffering and she's taking this rather well.

We pushed on through the forest and up ahead I could see a huge hill top with a large opening. We pushed on and all the time alba became more and more afraid. I fell back and stood by her. I patted her on the back and brushed up against her which helped her stay calm. As we walked into the entrance of the cave she looked at me and smiled. The cave was dark so I focused my energy and shot a ball of bright light I front of me which lit up the whole cave. The ball of light stayed in the middle of the group and lit up the way. We walked for a few minutes but for alba it must have felt like forever. Soon I noticed a bright light at the end of the tunnel and I extinguished my ball of light. The tunnel became rather dark again but it started to light up with every step we took. We inched closer and closer to the light before we finally passed through and broke into a large cave with an open ceiling. The sun was rot above our heads and it beamed down into the cave. There was a winding staircase to the bottom of the cave where a large perfectly circular pool of water laid completely still and untouched. Alba eyes the pool of water nervously and we started walking down the steps.

Every step on that staircase must have been another flashing memory of the pain alba endured. I could see the memories flashing through her eyes and I could see the fear in her, but under all of it was a small fire of hope. I have her a quick hug which helped the fire of hope in her burn a little brighter. We waved down the staircase and finally made it to the bottom. We walked over to the reflective pool and stopped. I looked into it and saw myself in the water. Alba then peered over with me, but her reflection never showed up in the water. Roza walked over too and when she look into the pool a reflection of a brown mare with black hair appeared in the water between them both.

" so... What happens now?" Asked twilight.

" now we both enter the pool and become whole again." Said Roza.

" what are you going to do after that?" Asked thunder. Roza and alba looked at him with worry and confusion.

" if you want you could come with us." Said twilight. " you make a great friend." She said. I looked over to martukus and he looked at me. He didn't know at first but when I gave him that look it suddenly hit him and his expression changed.

" twilight..." I said. " you don't understand."

" I don't understand what?" Se asked.

" alba... Isn't going to do anything after this..." I said. " merging her two halves will put her soul to rest..."

" what...what do you mean?" Asked thunder.

" she isn't coming back." I said. Alba and Roza just looked at the ground with guilty looks. Twilight and thunder both looked at them with horrified expressions.

" no... There has to be another way." Said twilight.

" yeah... You don't need to do this." Said thunder.

" guys..." I said before alba took one step forward.

" look..." She said. " I've been suffering for as long as I can remember, for all of my life I've never been happy, not truly happy at least. I was never loved and never had any friends... But you four showed me what it means to have friends and what it's like to be loved and for that I could never thank you enough." She said. " I truly mean that... But I don't want to live on forever as a hollow husk filled with only pain and misery... Even though you've taught me how to love and be kind I would eventually become the monster that had terrified the nights once again. I don't want that life... Nopony wants that... Please, don't be sad, I have to do this." She said with tears in her eyes. I placed a hoof around her and comforted her. I gave her a big hug and she dug her head into my shoulder. Twilight walked over and gave us a big hug as well, then thunder and martukus joined in as well and we hugged our friend goodbye. " thank you... All of you." She said as we disbanded.

" we're going to miss you alba..." I said as I helped her weak over to the mirror pool.

" we are too." Said twilight speaking for us all.

" thank you..." She repeated.

" it's time alba... Are you ready?" Asked Roza looking at alba.

" yes... I'm ready." She replied. They both smiled at each other and them smiled back at us as we stood back smiling too and watched. I stood there as alba and Roza both slowly stepped into the mirror pool. They sunk their hooves in and stood in the shallow end of the pool. The water started glowing brightly and giving of a faint hum. They started walking into the deeper parts and as they began to get deeper in the water the pool glowed brighter and brighter and soon the ground started to vibrate slightly and the whirling sound of the pool grew louder. They walked in further and further until they were them both completely submerged in the water. The pool glowed pure white now and the ground trembled lightly and the whirling grew very loud. Soon though it all stopped and the mirror pool faded back to its original color. Everything was silent and we peered at the pool.

Suddenly a huge blast of light the size of the pool fired up into the air and broke through the atmosphere. The ground trembled greatly and we shouted in surprise and covered our eyes. The cave started rumbling and breaking down as small rocks fell from above us and hit the ground. A great gust of wind was being shot from the blast that threatened to pick us up in the current and blow us away. The blast of whit slight swirled and cracked the ground underneath us. It started tearing up the ground around the pool and the cave floor started filling up with steam. And suddenly the blast started dying down and the whirling grew quieter and the rumbling grew softer. Soon only a thin strip of light remained which soon disappeared and everything was silent again except for a small ringing in our ears from the intensity of the blast. I could tell we were all dazed and confused. I looked back to my friends who had been blown away from the blast and were in a pile on the ground dazed and confused.

I looked forward and smiled knowing alba was now resting in peace. Suddenly out of the thick mist created by the blast a figure appeared. For a second I couldn't believe my eyes but then a mare started walking out of the steam smiling. She was brown with long blonde hair and a smile spread widely across her face. As she became more visible I saw her eyes... Her big red eyes. I stared in awe as she walked up to me and stood right I front of me smiling. I wanted to say something, but before I could she lunged forward and planted a deep kiss on my lips. I could feel her like a normal pony would and she pushed against me passionately. I kissed her back knowing this would be a farewell kiss. She pulled her lips away from mine and smiled at me. She looked me right in the eyes and smiled. I smiled too as her body soon started to fade and become transparent. Suddenly from underneath her a spark of light fluttered away and floated up into the sky. Then more and more sparks of light. I looked down to see that she was breaking apart from the bottom up. I looked back up into her eyes as slowly but surely she started to disappear. The light caught up to her waist, then to her neck, then Her head. She smiled one last time at me as her whole body was washed away in a cloud of bright lights that floated up into the sky. Not once in that moment did I stop smiling.

Goodbye Alba... We'll miss you.


	47. Chapter 47: Rift In Time

"Crimson…" said twilight.

"Yeah Twi…" I replied looking over to her. She gave me a sultry look with her deep purple eyes. She paused for a moment like she was giving me time to read the expression off her face.

"Will she be OK?" she asked.

"Who…alba?" I asked.

"Yeah…" she replied. "I obviously don't know what it's like to die, and sometimes that scares me. I don't know what comes next… but you know… what will happen to her?" she asked. She gazed at me with that same still look and I took a moment to sigh. I looked up past the trees and up into the sky and gazed right at the sun. a sudden breeze blew past my hair and my fur, and for a brief second I could hear a voice whisper my name into my ear… and I smiled. I flashed my smile at twilight and she changed to a surprised and confused look.

"Don't worry twilight…" I said. "ponies like you, and alba, and all the other truly good ponies always end up in paradise… don't worry, where she is now, there is no suffering, no anger, violence, hatred, worry, or conflict. Where she went is a place only of pure happiness and carefree bliss… like being a child again without a care in the world."

"You really think so?" she asked flashing a smile back at me.

"I know so…" I replied.

"I always thought that after all the bad things she did she would end up in hell… and I was scared for her." She said.

"Only the truly evil go to hell, she wasn't truly evil… it wasn't her fault, she was innocent… and we all know it." I said. Twilight smiled and closed her eyes for a second. A line of tears started welling up under her eyes and she looked at me with her big purple eyes and smiled. She placed her head against me and closed her eyes imagining how happy she was. I rested my head on top of twilights as we walked slowly down the dirt road. I closed my eyes and started imagining a carefree place, a kind of heaven if you will… though; I'm doomed to never see paradise.

And I can't ever share it with my friends… which hurts the most.

We had been walking for hours. Nopony spoke a word, not even me until twilight just spoke up. We all just moved onward and kept our eyes glued on the ground in thought. With all of my thinking the hours seemed to go by faster than usual. We couldn't take the cullis gate back to the city, it might be working but it didn't have a map with it and we don't know how to control it so we could teleport back, it could have sent us anywhere on the continent, so we decided not to risk it. Even if we had teleported into a city on the other side of stallasia it wouldn't matter because we don't have any money for another trip. Besides, this place isn't so far from the volcano; it looks almost like a straight shot. We could see the massive mountain watching over us past the trees.

Strangely enough when Alba finally was able to move on and rest in peace it must have done something to the forest. When we exited the cave we couldn't believe our eyes when all the trees had fully grown and bloomed and the soil returned to life. We're now following an old path through the forest that must have been made hundreds of years ago. It was starting to get dark though, but this was it, the final stretch… we were so close… so close. We have to keep going. Even though it's not the end it's the first major checkpoint out of god knows how many, we need the boost of confidence and moral. If I had to guess we could make it in the morning if we pushed through the night. I'm sure it still might be dangerous in the dark but not nearly as much anymore. It's a good thing we still have a bunch of lanterns. Twilight kept her gaze on the ground, like the other… but I stared upwards towards the sky. There's a lot I know about the world, and a lot I still have yet to learn… but the one thing that interests me the most, the one thing I could never understand, is what drives us to do what we do. A question like that can't have a simple answer like love… it has to be deeper than that, and the more I think about it the closer I grow to the grim reality of everything.

We don't just die… nopony dies. Sure maybe our bodies fail to function at some point somehow… but those are just bodies, I've learned to look at life a different way. A deep and immortal spiritual connection allows me to commune with the poor souls that haven't found peace yet and still wander the earth and even those who reside in the afterlife. It just shows that we don't die, we live on forever, and everypony is immortal. The only difference between me and the rest is that my vessel, my body won't die so easily if ever. I kept my gaze towards the clouds and let out a deep sigh. From the corner of my eye I spotted twilight turning her head over to me and give me a curious look.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked. I looked back from the sky and gazed into her purple eyes.

"Oh… nothing." I said giving her a smile.

"You know… I wish we could have done something to help her." Said thunder from behind me and twilight.

"I do too thunder." I said keeping my gaze towards the sky. "But there are some things we just can't control, not even I can decide the fate of others… it's not in my place. Only we can decide our own fates, and what Alba did was the right thing, she chose to end her suffering along with the suffering of others and in it she found peace… so there is absolutely nothing wrong with her choice…"

"Sometimes I wish I just knew all the answers to life's questions." Said martukus.

"You should know just as well as I martukus that life doesn't ask questions." I said glaring back at him. We both stayed silent for a while as I glared at him and then I turned my gaze back towards the road. One last time I looked back up at the sky just as the sun was setting. Twilight looked back at me and I glanced away from the sky for a second to shoot her a steely gaze that seemed to freeze her soul. I shot my head back up to the sky and the sun fled over the mountain tops and the world started growing darker by the second as the bright red sky that had occupied me for the last hour or so started fading. "Damn…" I said softly.

"What's wrong crimson?" asked twilight.

"It's getting dark… I can't see the sky anymore." I said. "I liked the sky… it looked especially beautiful this evening.

"Crimson your acting a bit strange… is it something you want to talk about?" asked twilight.

"Yeah, she's right." Added thunder. "I've been noticing it too. The rest of us have been quiet but you've been deathly silent, it was like you weren't even breathing, just walking forwards, not even your hooves made a sound on the dried leaves."

"Something's troubling you." Said martukus.

"Yes… something is troubling me." I said. "But don't worry about it." the others just stared at me with worried expressions but I kept my look forward and walked down the road. They could tell something was wrong with me, and it's taken this long for my pent up feelings to finally start bubbling against the surface. I need to vent out some of these feelings somehow but I can't, I become too dangerous when I let out my feelings, which is why I hold them back. When Alba passed on I wanted to cry, but I couldn't because my friends would see me cry. If I cry then It makes me look weak, and if I look weak then my friends won't think I can survive the fight with shall-Grahkan. And if they don't think I can win then they worry, and that worry leads to them being afraid for me. If they fear for my life, then they'll cry and beg me not to go, and I can't watch my friends cry… because then I would cry. This whole trip I've been holding back my tears, it usually doesn't take long for me to repress my feelings, but I've been feeling all sorts of things on this long and winding road.

I did tell them something's wrong, but not just with me. Something isn't right. It's like every step that I take a new bad memory returns to me like a flashback, making me relive every second of the agony. Every innocent person or pony I've hurt all the mistakes and bad decisions… all of them flood into my head one after another and it never seems to end. Every time I've been hurt or embarrassed, every time I cried of yelled or got angry. Memories of every time I was cruel and abusive, every time I caused others grief or pain. The ones that hurt the most are the memories of when I caused somepony to cry. I pulled myself away for a little bit to look back around at the world around me.

The forest had grown fully dark now and it became difficult to see. I focused some of my energy and used it to illuminate my body and cover myself in my armor. My glowing body lit up the area around us and we could find our way through. As we pressed onward the others remained silent and still while my eyes darted around the forest. I started seeing faces in the darkness, people and ponies that I've known quite well, and each one opened up a new mental scar and more memories. Even memories that I had deeply repressed started bubbling to the surface. My light started to flicker but I focused and kept it on. Twilight and the others noticed my power fade slightly and confronted me about it.

" crimson what was that?" She asked inquiring about the flickering light.

" nothing... I just got distracted for a moment." I said.

" crimson.. Are... Are you sweating?" Asked twilight placing her hoof on my forehead and wiping off some sweat. I didn't even notice it before but now that I notice it now I can see that I'm sweating bullets. I felt sick to my stomach and just wanted to lie down, but I know that wont help.

" I guess I am... It's pretty hot outside." I said feeling the warm air on my skin.

" no... It's cold outside, it's night... I quite chilly actually." Said twilight glaring at me with suspicion.

" crimson if your going to lie you could at least try and do a good job at it." Said thunder. I don't get it... It feels hot out to me. Twilight placed her hoof back on top of my head and felt around.

" oh my god... Crimson your burning up." She said.

" what... No..." I said feeling slightly hazy. " I... I can't get sick... I'm immortal, mortal sicknesses... Can't... Can't affect me." I said with my vision slowly blackening. I felt tired, nauseous, I was sweaty and hot, and I was dozed and confused. I strayed off for a second and followed what I thought was the path but twilight had to pull me back. Once I recovered for a second I could see that I had almost just wandered into a grove of thorn bushes.

" alright... Lets settle down here... You need some sleep." Said twilight.

" no... We need to push on... The sooner we leave the better." I said.

" no crimson, twilight is right, you need to rest." Said martukus.

" no...I just... Water... I just need some water." I said. Twilight looked over to me with a concerned look.

" alright... Here," said thunder. " here's your canteen." He said handing me over the canteen of water. I unscrewed the cap quickly and started chugging down half of the canteen, I started feeling a bit better and stopped. I poured the rest of the water over my head and it felt wonderful, it felt like I could think again.

" I need... I need to find some water." I said looking around.

" ugh... We just gave you some... You just poured it on your face." Said thunder.

" no... A lake... A puddle... Something." I said.

" a lake?" Repeated twilight. I stuck my snout up into the air and started sniffing around for a source of water. I couldn't smell much but I turned my head a little bit to the right and picked up a scent of fresh water, don't ask me how I can smell water, because I can't even begin to describe it.

" this way..." I said moving towards the smell. I kept my nose up high and started moving around dodging plants and trees using just my scent. My eyes had become unreliable and there was too much noise, plus you can't hear water easily, only when everything is dead silent.

" wait... Crimson wait..." Shouted twilight as she and the other chased me through the woods. I darted through with faint images passing by my face. I used my smell and suddenly stopped and stood still. I sniffed the air once more, and then followed it to the ground. I lowered my nose down and soon I felt something wet. I opened up my eyes and saw a sparkling lake in front of me. Just then twilight, thunder and martukus leapt thorough the syrup and stopped behind me. They looked at me curiously as I submerged my head into the water. Suddenly it was like everything that was wrong started to fade. The cool water felt great against my head. I pulled my head out quickly and let out a relieved sigh. Twilight, being curious as usual, walked over and place sheer hoof in the water but quickly pulled it out. " crap, that water is freezing." Said twilight. She looked at me like she was going to say something, but before she did I leaned over and fell right into the water.

Suddenly my body stared to cool off and I could finally start to think clearly now. All of the bad memories started sinking back down in my mind and the good memories began bubbling back to the surface. All of the memories made me smile as I slowly started to sink down in the dark cold water. My hair waved past the sides of my face and I took in a deep breath then let out a deep sigh. I opened my eyes and started to flap my wings and swim back up to the surface. I grew closer and closer and soon I breached the surface to see my friends standing near the edge of the water. They all had a concerned look on their faces, especially twilight who seemed very worried. I just glanced at them and flashed a smile.

" crimson, are you feeling alright?" Asked martukus.

" well it's pointless to deny it now... So no, I wasn't feeling great, but I feel much better now that I've cooled off." I said.

" I could feel a lot of emotional stress coming from you, are you fine?" Asked martukus.

" yeah, I'm fine... The cold water cleared my head, but I think something In this forest must be messing with my mind." I said.

" so the emotional stress made you feel sick." Said thunder.

" even though you weren't." Finished twilight.

" yeah... It was all just in my head." I replied. I placed my hooves on the grassy shore and climbed up and out of the water. I shook myself off and patted my fur down. " I think I'll be fine... But that was scary." I said.

" your damn right it was... I thought you were going to start freaking out on us." Said twilight seeming a bit angry now. I just smiled at her and she seemed to calm down now. I know that she expects a lot from me being who I am, but she could use to lighten up a bit.

" we should get going back." I said walking past the brush and forest back onto the dirt road. The others followed and we started walking down the path once again. We walked onward down the path and as I took one more step the sky above us started to grow bright, a blinding bright. We shielded our eyes and as I looked out from my hooves I could see the sun, and the whole forest was glowing bright as day once again. I stopped in my tracks as did the others. "...what?" I said looking up at the sky. "...what?" I said sounding even more confused.

" how... How is that there?" Asked martukus.

" something's wrong..." Said twilight.

" I don't feel any disturbances..." Said martukus.

" neither do I." I added.

" crimson...?" Twilight said in a slightly frightened voice as if she were staring at some horrible creature.

" I don't think I have an explanation for this one twilight." I said.

" no... It's not that." She said. I looked back form the sky over to twilight who was staring off into the distance.

" what is it?" I asked looking at her.

" where's the volcano?" She asked.

" huh?" I said looking the way she was looking I turned my head to look down the road and suddenly the large mountainous volcano that overlooked the whole forest, just wasn't there. It wasn't like we couldn't see it form this angle or anything, the paths are straight and the mountain looms high over the trees even from this distance.

" what the HELL... At do you guys talking about?" Asked thunder behind us looking at us like we've lost our minds. We looked at him and gave him the same look.

" you've got to be kidding..." I said. " you can't see the lack of mountain in front of us, or the sun in the sky." I said pointing out both spots.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about... It's still night back here on earth... And I can't see the mountain because its still dark." He said squinting and looking forward towards the space that used to be occupied by the mountain. I peered over at him and started to think for a second.

" this isn't a time for fucking jokes thunder... Something is seriously wrong." Said twilight getting annoyed.

" really now... We have to figure this out." Added martukus.

" wait..." I said silencing them both.

" I might have figured it out..." I said. " thunder... Whatever you do... Don't move." I said.

" what?... What is it?" He asked frantically staying still. I slowly walked over to him. I took one step slowly after another and soon I was right in front of him. I leaned down and drew a line on the ground between us. I looked at his eyes and they were still dilated like he was still trying to see in the dark. I tapped him on the shoulder jut to make sure I could feel him. He just kept sweating and looking at me nervously as well did the others.

" I want you to stick your head past this line." I said moving to the side but not passing the line. He just looked at me with a confused expression but complied and stuck his head past the line. I watched as he fiercely shut his eyes and covered them and back up. He opened his eyes and I saw that his pupils chad contracted to the light but were now dilating again.

" oh god...chat was that light?" He asked.

" he could see it... But..." Twilight said.

" there must be a barrier." Said martukus sparking the conclusion.

" not exactly..." I said. I had one last test. I took a few steps past the line and once my head passed through the light was gone and everything went dark as my eyes started to adjust and dilate. The cool night air covered my upper half as the warm daytime sun beat down on my lower body. I grabbed thunder and pulled him back through with me. He stumbled through and closed his eyes again. The light stung my eyes too as I started to rub the, with my hoof. " it's some kind of rift in time." I said.

" like time travel?" Joked twilight.

" not exactly." I said. " it exists in the same space as this place, since I can still see and touch thunder... But we just passed through into a different time, one where there isn't any volcano around." I said.

" how is that even possible?" Asked thunder who was still adjusting to the light.

" it must have been caused by some traumatic even that happened at this point in time, if this is a rift then we should be able to find it out from in here... But there's no way of telling what the size of the rift is. All we know is that it starts at that line in the ground, but I don't know the boundaries."

" how far back do you think it is?" Asked twilight.

" well seeing as how we're missing an entire volcano... I'd say pretty far back." Said martukus.

" at least two or three million years." I said stepping forwards. There was a small part where the path continued but then it faded away into jungle brush. I looked over to twilight and she looked around. Then suddenly her face lit up and she smiled.

" oh... What if the portal is in this rift?" She suggested. I looked at her and smiled at her cunning resolve.

" that would make sense." I said. " I was finding it hard to believe there would be a portal on top of a volcano, especially one that erupted only a hundred thousand years ago, no pony would go near it, let alone build a portal on top of it. And if it was there before the volcano erupted than it certainly wouldn't be there anymore after the eruption..."

" that might be what caused it." Suggested thunder. " the eruption might have caused it."

" what I'm confused about is how we can still see the real world behind us but we couldn't see the past world form the other side." Said twilight.

" it's easier to look forward in time rather then behind... Don't worry about it." I said. " and the eruption couldn't have been the cause of the rift since the volcano would have had to be here to cause it. But there is a volcano on the map, and we could see it... But it can't erupt through time... Which is confusing me... There's something seriously wrong with this island."

" alright...I'm confused..." Said twilight.

" yeah me too." Added thunder.

" I hate to admit it, but time and space aren't my forte." Said martukus.

" okay... So the rift was caused by a traumatic experience that happened at this time right now, it was so traumatic it caused this point in space to forever loop in time." I said. " therefore if there isn't a volcano here then that means the volcano couldn't have been the problem."

" we got that part." Said thunder.

" but the volcano couldn't have erupted one hundred thousand years ago, because it doesn't exist." I said. " we can perceive it, but it doesn't exist since this area of space was ended and so it stopped in time." I said.

" but how do you know the volcano doesn't exist, maybe it's on the other side of this rift." Said twilight.

" well then we would be able to see it." I said. " just like if you look behind us you can see the current timeline, the volcano would still be visible from here still if it existed around the current time... So the volcano was in this rift... But it doesn't exist."I said.

" uhm... Okay... So the volcano doesn't exist...so it couldn't erupt." Said twilight.

" but it did." Added martukus..."The whole island burned because of it and there plenty of proof."

" there is proof... And the country did burn because of it... But it doesn't make sense... It couldn't have been the volcano, and it couldn't have been whatever happened here." I said.

" so... What happens now?" Asked twilight.

" well... This part of space is doomed to repeat itself forever, so whatever happened here that forced this part of space of stop existing will repeat over and over again infinitely. But, if we can figure out what happened then we can stop it... And maybe that will reset this point of space to its original trajectory in time."

" you lost me at well..." Said thunder.

" ok... Basically, something bad happened here that broke this point in time, if we can stop that from happening then we can fix this place and the volcano should appear and everything will return to normal... Or it will go to the way it should be at least." I said.

" the only problem is that if something was strong enough to create a rift in time then it could be dangerous if we get caught in it." Added martukus.

" that's true... If everything seems to fail then the best we can do is make a run for it and try and escape the rift before everything goes to shit, whatever damage was caused can't follow us out of the rift."

" I swear... Sometimes I can't believe the shit we get ourselves into." Said twilight hitting herself on the forehead with her hoof.

"Yeah… but that's what makes it fun." I said with a smile. Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed but I saw a smile roll across her face.

"Alright… so where do we go now?" she asked.

"I don't know. Something is supposed to destroy this part of the world indefinitely… so it ant be hard to miss." I said looking up and across the tops of the trees for some seemingly visible structure.

"Hey what's that?" asked thunder pointing out into the forest. We all looked over to where he was pointing and saw some kind of small structure sticking out of the ground a while away.

"I don't know… let's check it out." I said. I started galloping towards it and the others followed me. We ran through the forest and passed the trees as the structure become more visible. Once we pulled up to it I could get a good view of it. it was… a totem pole. On the bottom was an earth pony head. It was crying and had a depressing look on its face. In the middle was a Pegasus pony head with wings spreading out on both sides. It had a sullen look and an expressionless face. On the top was a unicorn head with a smile on its face and a horn on its head. The whole totem pole was made out of a light wood like maple or birch. The horn on the unicorns head was jewel encrusted. It was made of some kind of clear and prismatic gem, it wasn't diamond… no, it looked far more beautiful than diamond.

"Whoa… that's creepy." Said thunder.

"what do you think it means?" asked twilight.

"I thik it's a status quo. If there are ponies on this totem then there must be ponies here then… probably more primitive than us… but still advanced enough to use tools and maybe even weapons." I said.

"you said it was a status quo… how?" asked martukus.

"well look, its simple." I said. "The earth ponies are crying on the bottom, thus society must not have a high outlook on them. Then there are the pegasi which are in the middle, and the unicorns are on top with their superior abilities to use magic." I said.

"well that's not very fair." Said twilight.

"I know…" I replied. "I could beat the crap out of tons of unicorns."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" she yelled. I just smiled and laughed.

"You know I'm joking." I said.

"yeah well… whatever." She said huffing away from me. "what I want to know is why they placed the totem in the middle of nowhere… it seems too new to be a relic or a part of some ruins." She said. she was right. It was very out of place.

"maybe its some kind of marker… or something." Suggested thunder. "look theres another that way." He said pointing off into the forest again at another similar looking structure.

"huh… that doesn't sound too crazy." I said.

"maybe they lead somewhere." Suggested martukus.

"Let's go…" I said running onward toward the next totem pole with the others right behind. I dodged left and right to avoid the trees and jumped high over any thorn bushes or fallen trees. I ran up to the next totem pole and slid to a stop and looked at it. It was exactly the same as the last one. Earth pony, then Pegasus, then unicorn with a jewel encrusted horn. The others joined me and we stared at the totem.

"I think chasing these totems might take too long." Said martukus.

"Yeah…" agreed twilight. "Oh… crimson, fly up and search the area." She said tapping me on the back. I fluttered my wings slightly and smiled.

"Oh yeah… my wings." I said. I flexed out my wings to the side and floated a few feet above the ground. I rocketed up into the air and broke through the thick brush above my head. I had to cover my head and broke through a few branches on my way up. Once I was in the air I uncovered myself and started to look around. Right away my keen eyes spotted something close by. It looked like some kind of… temple. Like an old Mayan temple that somewhat resembled a pyramid. It didn't look worn down or ancient, so it must be somewhat new. The more I looked at the temple the stranger I began feeling. Like something was starting to suck out all of my energy and emotions until I was nothing but an empty shell. I quickly turned away and felt myself rejuvenating. I flew back down towards the ground and broke back through the canopy. I whirled and broke through branches and soon enough landed back on the ground where I last stood. I folded my wings back up and looked at my friends who were anxious.

"Did you see anything?" asked thunder. I looked over to the direction of the temple which wasn't visible from here.

"There's some kind of temple over that way…" I said. "I feel like it has something to do with this."

"Totems, temples, and rifts in time… just another day." Said twilight letting out a deep sigh as we started moving onward.

"You got that right…" I said looking back at her with a smile. "Hahaha…. I wish we could have this much fun more often." We ran rough the dense jungle shrub and dodged past the trees to try and reach the temple. I wanted to get this done fast, not only because I was anxious to see if the portal was here so we could go through it, but also because if we stay here too long we could be doomed to repeat history. Up ahead through a gaps in the trees I could start to see the temple, but it was far off. We ran through and dodged around the trees. We stepped over shrubs and mud to get there. Soon as we started running the roaring sound of a river started to fill the air. There was a break in the trees up ahead that opened up into a muddy river that cut across the jungle and was wide enough to fit two boats across with just enough space to breathe. The banks of the river were muddy and wet but the water was crystal clear. On the other side of the river was the temple which could be easily seen through the trees it towered over.

" we need to get across." I said.

" the current doesn't look too strong." Said twilight.

" let's go." Said thunder being the first one to jump into the water. We all leapt after him and started to trot our ways over to the other side. Once we got to the middle of the river the water levels came up to our undersides, but it didn't get any deeper than that. It was hard to trot through the water so we ended up losing some speed. We slowly made our way through the river and grew closer to the opposite side. As we grew closer the water became more shallow with each step which in turn gave us more and more speed. Once my hooves were just out of the water I bolted for it. I slowed down do I don't slip on the mud and fall on my face while the others stayed close behind. I made my way to the temple and started to slow down until I was at a complete stop at the temple. I stopped and the others caught up.

" well... What now?" Asked martukus.

" I think this might be the back or something... Should we circle around?" Asked twilight.

" yeah... But lets be careful." I said. I started moving over to the left and kept close to the wall. I stopped at the edge of the limestone walls and peeked my head over the side. I looked over and my eyes opened wide at the sight I saw. I saw... Two ponies. They don't look different whatsoever from many normal ponies, both were unicorns with white fur and brown hair. They were wearing hoods and cloaks but the parts of their fur that I could see had tattoos and symbols painted onto them. By their sides they were holding something. They were both carrying some kind of large and ornate box. I watched as they both walked towards the entrance to the temple. I listened closely and I could hear them talking.

" damn this thing is heavy." One of them said. They can speak in our language.

" shut up... Once we get this thing inside the temple we can begin the ritual and finally clean this world of its filth." Said the other pony.

" why can't we just carry this thing with our magic?" Asked the first one.

" you idiot... If you use your magic the nor-shuken will kill you." Said the second pony yelling at him for the others to hear.

" what was that?" Asked twilight curiously.

" ssshhhh." I said silencing her and then looking back. When I turned back the two ponies were gone.

" what did you see?" Asked thunder.

" two other ponies, both of them were unicorns with white fur and tattoos on their bodies."

" I could hear them talk about something." Said twilight.

" yeah. Something about a nor- shuken." I said. " apparently they can speak equestrian."

" aww... Really, I was hoping they would speak some kind of strange ancient language." Said twilight.

" I guess not much has changed with time." I said. " they talked about cleaning up the filth of this world... I'm not sure what that means though." I said.

" should we confront them?" Asked martukus.

" I think we should..." I said.

" wait, crimson if what you said earlier about the status quo is true then your the only one here who isn't a unicorn." Said thunder. I looked at twilight thunder and martukus, all three of them had horns on top of their heads... I didn't.

" not a problem." I said. I closed my eyes and started focusing my energy and soon started to glow faintly. My body soon began to warp and shift until the glowing stopped and soon I stood there smiling with a fresh new horn poking out of my head. It felt different, like I was more accurate with my magic now. A horn is a good thing to channel my magic with, but its not my style. I'm just using it for the occasion. " there... How do I look?" I asked.

" different..." Said martukus

" perfect... Lets go." I said walking out form the corner.

" wait a second..." Said twilight. We all stopped to see twilight who was the only one not following me. " we're just going to march in there and ask them what's up?" She said.

" well...yeah. Pretty much." I said. She let out a big sigh.

" alright lets go." She said walking up to me and moving onward. I smiled and walked alongside her. We all started to move forward towards the large entrance of the temple. There was a large dirt path that lead out towards the forest from the temple. We walked over to the entrance of the temple and stood in front of the gaping hole leading into the bowels of the structure. I looked around at the temple and gazed at all the strange symbols and pictures carved into the walls and sides of the building. We all just stopped for a moment and looked. On the face of the building there was a symbol carved and painted onto the building. It looked like the moon and the sun, but the sun was behind the moon... Like an eclipse, I feel like there might be an eclipse today. I looked up into the sky... But there was no sign that was going to happen.

" should we go in?" Asked thunder.

" well... That's the plan." I said taking a few steps. I started making my way forward and into the temple and soon the others followed me there. We walked in and finally entered the temple. We started walking down a short hallway which opened up into a large room up ahead. The walls were lines with torches that burned brightly. We walked over to the opening and stepped into the large open room. In the room was an obelisk that sat in the very center of the whole room, nothing else around... Just the obelisk. We took a few steps into the temple and looked around. There were symbols drawn on the walls and a few pillars on the sides of the room, but that's it. On every wall there was an opening that must lead to a different room. I looked up and the roof seemed to go upward forever until there was a small speck of light just above the obelisk. The light filtered down and covered the obelisk in a curtain of light. The obelisk just looked like a stone rectangle with a strange jewel prism. It was made form the same material as the unicorn horns on the totems in the forest... Could there be a connection.

Suddenly the obelisk began to glow. We got nervous and backed up slightly as the ground began to rumble and crack. The cracks in the ground started emitting this eerie blue glow as they started around the obelisk and started carving out the room. They were strange, not just normal cracks in the ground, but they started carving out symbols. Before we knew what we were looking at there was a large magical circle on the ground with symbols and ancient runes running along the magic rings. The obelisk was rot in the middle and the energy leaking from the room was amazing. Soon the bright prism on top of the obelisk started to glow as well until it fired a bright beam of energy into the sky and lit up the whole room. We stopped and waited for something else to happen... But nothing happened. The obelisk just sat there firing the beam of energy into the air like a beacon.

" HEY!" Shouted a voice that caused us to freeze in our tracks. " YOU CAN'T BE IN HERE!" Shouted the voice again. We all quickly looked over to see two unicorns wearing bright purple cloaks with red tattoos all over their bodies. They looked angry. Their horns glowed an evil looking dark purple as ethereal blades floated by their sides.

" crap..." Said twilight.

"Uh.. Well... We can explain." Said thunder. The others were a bit worried and panicky but I remained calm and stared the two ponies in the eyes.

" hey... Wait..." Said the second unicorn. " you four are unicorns..." He said. The first unicorn guard blinked and then looked back.

" oh my... Our apologies." He said as they both bowed their heads. " you four must be here for the ritual... Please forgive us." He said. I looked back to the others with a look that asked what should I do. Twilight and thunder both gave me a look that told me to do what I do best. Martukus gave me a look that said well follow your lead. I looked over towards the two ponies and smiled.

" don't trouble yourselves... All is forgiven." I said stepping forwards to the two ponies bowing on the ground. They both got back up and one of the guards eyes me over. He saw something on me that caused his eyes to shrink into his head.

"AAHHH..." He shouted jumping back. The other guard looked at him with confusion and anger while I have a confused look too. The others gave of a look of confusion along with me.

"Damnit Jaal... We have honored guests what way is..." Said the first guard before getting cut off

" wings..." Said the second pony pointing at me. My eyes then shrunk in my head too at the realization that I forgot to get rid of my wings in exchange for my horn. I was just starting to notice them now.

"What?" Said the first guard again.

"He has wings... And a horn." He said backing up and falling to the ground. The first guard looked over me and saw my wing sand his eyes shrunk too. He immediately fell to the ground and started bowing down to me. I was confused now. I just stood there with a confused look spread idly across my face. oh shit…I hope they don't think I'm their god.

"The holy one has graced us with his presence." They both said bowing down to me. I don't like it when they bow to me, I hate the feeling of being worshiped, its embarrassing. The others could tell I was a bit flustered from the red glow emanating from my cheeks. I looked back to them with a worried look wondering what to do. Twilight and thunder gave me the same strange expression but martukus just glanced me a confident look. I turned back to the two ponies and swallowed my embarrassment. I took in a deep breath and decided to go into character.

"Yes you fool… it is I." I said spreading out my wings and stepping forward.

"What do you require my lord…?" asked one of the ponies.

"Anything you wish we can bring to you." Said the second pony.

"Who is in charge of this pity temple?" I asked staring down at the two ponies shaking in their hooves.

"Please… this way your holiness… our leader Makar is on the top of the temple, he is preparing the ceremony." Said the first pony. They turned around and politely beckoned me to follow. I followed hesitantly at first but soon they lead up to the doorway over in the left of the room.

"I'm sorry your holiness… but the others cannot come this far." Said the second pony.

"make an exception…" I said in a deep and commanding voice. The fierce volume of my voice caused the two ponies to tremble and quiver.

"y-y-yes sir." He said letting my friends pass with me. They were in character too as they kept sullen looks on their faces that blended well with my false god persona. Well… technically I am a god… just not their god. As I followed the two ponies they lead us through a short hallway that escalated into a spiraling staircase. I remained silent along with the others as we made our way to the top of the temple. One of the guards quietly whispered something into the other guard's ear and he went running up the stairs ahead of us. I didn't bother to question it, probably just going to go let his master know of my arrival.

It didn't take long before we reached the top of the steps and sunlight started flooding the stairs until everything was covered with a blinding white light. Once the light faded we were outside, more specifically we were on top of the temple. There were at least fifty ponies up here and it looked much larger than it did from downstairs, then again the bottom level was huge. All the ponies had the same red markings on their bodies, and they were all unicorns. The blue beam of energy remained shooting up from the center of the temple through some kind of focusing device. What I noticed also were many other smaller beam circling the entire temple, I figure that those totems form earlier must be giving off those blasts. The top of the temple had a large circle on it that was glowing just like the one downstairs. I notice it wasn't as light as it was last time I was outside. I looked up to the sky and to my surprise I saw the moon floating just right by the side of the sun. There is going to be an eclipse soon, id give it another hour. And if I know my clichés then once the sun is eclipsed then whatever bad thing happened to this place is going to repeat itself. I looked back down to see that all the standing ponies, were now bowing before me. I blushed a bit again but cleared my head. at the front of them was a large and imposing unicorn with a jagged horn and black fur. His fur flared around his hooves and as he rose up and smiled I got a bad look about him. He had strange eyes, like a cat with slits for eyes. His smile revealed that he had fangs and sharp ones too.

"Your holiness… you bless us with your presence." Said the pony in charge, Makar, I think his name was. He had a raspy voice with a menacing undertone. It was rather low pitched and was lined with diabolical intention.

"What is happening here?" I demanded.

"We humble mortals are cleansing this world for you, your holiness." Said Makar.

"Cleansing it of what?" I asked.

"All of the impurities of course." He said.

"What impurities?" I asked again.

"Why those wretched pegasi… and not to mention the despicable and pathetic earth ponies." He said. I stayed silent and let him continue. But now their intentions are clear, and I don't know how they managed to fail at this since they obviously didn't destroy all of the pegasi and earth ponies. "one the sun is eclipsed we will harvest its spiritual power and wipe out all the filth from the world, then only will the purest of ponies be left… the unicorns."

"Is that so?" I asked.

"Yes your holiness." He said smiling. His smile faded as he noticed the three unicorns behind me. He seemed distraught for some reason though. I looked back too to see that martukus had a devious smile on his face, then I looked at him and noticed the horn on top of his head was gone… that bastard. He must be playing along with his own game; I didn't know he could change his form too. That horn must have been gone since we entered the staircase since the guards recognized him as a unicorn. "w-what... is THAT FILTHY earth pony DOING HERE!" yelled Markar.

"He's with me." I said turning and glancing at him with a death gaze. "Is that a problem?" I asked still shooting him my death gaze.

"n..nn..no… that is, if you don't mind… but he won't survive much longer now… the moon is almost in place. And once the sun eclipses the ritual will begin." He said with a wicked smile.

"No it won't." I said.

"What do you mean?" asked the pony taken back slightly.

"Why do you think I would have bothered my time with a pitiful creature such as yourself, if I wasn't here to stop you from doing something astronomically ignorant?" I said stepping up to him. "I cannot let you continue with your plans if it means sacrificing the lives of countless innocent ponies for your sick desire of perfection."

"MY sick desires for perfection?" he asked getting angry now. "You are the being that demands nothing but perfection, you are the perfect being and demand nothing but… and now you say that we should keep the filth here on this world." He said.

"I never demanded anything." I said growing a bit angry. to be honest I was getting tired of this ponies face.

"earth ponies sand pegasi are filth, they don't deserve the life they've been given!" he said shouting at me now and getting arrogant. I think it was time to wrap this up.

"SILENCE!" I demanded as a blast of holy light fired from underneath me and rocketed up into the sky. My feather rustled to the force of the blast and my hair shot up along the blast as well. My body began to glow as symbols coursed through my body and started to glow. I closed my eyes and reopened them as they too began to glow violently. I snarled at the pony in front of me who was taken aback by my power as he stumbled back in shock.

" you're not a god... Your a sham." Said the pony glaring at me as a n evil purple mist started frothing underneath his hooves. All the other serpents around us started glaring at us and their horns glowed as ethereal weapons began appearing at their sides. " you'll die for you impotence" said Makar. A dark circle of energy began forming under his hooves as he grunted and arced his back. He let out a fierce shout as large bat wings sprouted from his back along with a jet of blood. He was sweating but gave me an evil smile.

" crimson what do we do?" Asked twilight.

" go... Leave them to me, go and take down that obelisk downstairs... I'll deal with these fools." I said turning and shouting orders at twilight. She was hesitant but obeyed as she and the others ran down the stairs. A few of the unicorns chased after them with weapons but I let out a fierce shout as spikes of light shot from the ground and skewered the poor souls. They let out muffled cries of pain as blood trickled to the ground and organs started spilling out of the open wounds. I turned to the others and gave them a demonic glare as light started shooting up from around me and caused a massive gust of wind.

" get him you fools... Bring me the head of this heathen." Said Makar. The others charged at me but I shot straight into the air. I started to glow brightly and returned to my normal form. I covered myself in armor and dawned my mask and cape. I folded my hood over my head and my horn disappeared. I flapped my wings and then landed right on top of some poor pony. I felt his organs squish under my hooves through his skin and his bones crunch and snap as he yelled out a painful screech of agony. I glared at the others with my eyes glowing through my mask and I gave them a deathly snarl.

" he... He...where did his horn go?" Asked one of the ponies.

" I never had one... It was an illusion." I said.

" you must be some kind of monster to use magic without a horn, how dare you try and compare yourselves to us great unicorns." Said Makar.

" if you unicorns at so great, then why have I already killed three of them?" I asked with a sarcastic remark. Makar got angry and flapped his wings which shot his right into the air. His eyes seeped an evil dark magic almost like how mine trail a bright glow.

" the audacity... Who do you think you are?" He asked.

" I'm the guy who's going to kick your ass." I said with a smile.

" get him." He shouted at the other ponies. They charged at me and I began my assault. One pony swung at me with a magic axe. I dodged it and the axe wedged itself in the scalp of another pony who came form behind me. The other pony screamed in pain and while distracted I bucked my hind leg out and snapped the front hoof of the pony with the axe. He fell to the ground just as I shot up a volley of spikes to completely eviscerate him. Out of the corner of my eye there was a faint glow. I looked over to see a bolt of dark purple magic heading towards me. I stayed still and the bolt hit me right in the face and exploded creating a cloud of dust around my head. The bolt didn't harm me in the slightest and didn't move me an inch. Once the smoke faded I stared down the unicorn that shot the bolt at me and gave him my death gaze. The other were silent and that one pony was sweating bullets.

I focused the energy in the air around my mouth as a small orb of energy formed near my snout. The energy collected and with one shout I forced the orb of power forward and it rocketed through the air. It hit the one pony right in the chest and he blew up into pieces. The force of the blast caused the ponies around him to get knocked away but the one pony who took the direct shot shattered into small pieces of meat and bone. Blood splattered backwards like a spray of water and all the ponies behind him were now covered in his blood and body. A few of his limbs laid on the gerund like a front hoof and a haunch of meat with his cutie mark on it. But other pieces like fragments of his skull and brain fell from the air and broke further on impact showering the temple with more blood and body. I quickly turned my gaze behind me to see another pony standing there and quivering. I gave him my death gaze as well and he went stone cold.

I quickly lashed around and grabbed him with two tendrils of light. I shot two more spikes of light into his stomach and he hollered in pain. I started pulling on the unicorn as he began to scream and shout for mercy as I slowly started to rip him in half. His skin and fur started splitting near his chest and stomach as blood trickled down. The crunching of bones started to compliment the ripping of flesh as a sickening and horrifying ripping sound shuttered through the air. The once whole pony was now ripped in half straight down the center of his body. Blood, organs and meat fell to the ground and I dropped him into his own pile of entrails. I lashed out another tentacle and it wrapped around the neck of another unicorn. He started to beg for mercy but his words were cut short as I gave the tentacle a quick yank. I ripped his head off his shoulders complete with the spine. The spineless and headless body fell limply to the ground as the head within my grasp soon became still. The heads eyes rolled back into his severed head and the spine leaked blood and cervical fluids.

I turned around once more to give the same deadly gaze to a group of ponies to my left. I let out a deep roar followed by a massive blast of magic. The blast blinded every pony but me as it tore through the trees and forest and obliterated everything in its path. Once I stopped the blast and it started to fade the numerous ponies that once stood there were no more. Once the smoke cleared the only thing left of them were their charred skeletons that stood perfectly still and blackened by the blast. Even the position of their skeletons suggested they died in fear. The others gazed at the straight line of skeletons and became fearful of my power. The air was filled with screams of the ponies who weren't fully caught in the blast. The writhed on the ground with parts of their bodies missing all flesh and skin, just bone. One pony was frothing at the mouth after the blast engulfed half of his head removing held of his brain. Another pony tried diving out of the way but lost all four legs. And one poor sod lost the lowed half of his body to the blast. He tried crawling away in agony as his meatless and bony legs dragged behind him and his intestinal organs spilled out past his pelvic bones.

I quickly spun around making a wave of spikes that tore out from the ground and skewered several of the unicorns. Some of the, where stabbed through the bottom of the jaw and through the head. Others got skewered through the stomach and their organs started spilling out before them. Others bot punctured in the eyes, sides, legs, or heart. Either way the air turned red with blood for a second then a large pool of blood started to leak and form around the spikes. The smell of death was heavy in the air. I grabbed my sword with my teeth and held it up high. I heard a cry from behind me as it grew closer. I looked back slightly to see three ponies charging me with swords in their mouths and their eyes closed. When they got to the perfect spot I quickly spun around and slashed through all three of the, at a downward angle. They all suddenly stopped and their eyes grew wide. The one who I slashed first was the most still. Then the top half of his head slid off of his body and he fell to the floor. The second pony started leaking blood from his mouth as he fell back into two pieces spilling blood and guts everywhere and screaming in pain. Then the third pony stayed still completely.

" well... Would you look at that... I missed." I said glaring at him. He just stared at me and suddenly started moving forward slightly. " or did I?" I said looking down to see his legs sliding away. He fell to the ground shouting in pain as his from legs had been completely and cleanly severed. He writhed in pain and kicked his hind legs. I placed my hoof on his neck and he started choking as I placed the tip of my sword between his eyes. He let out one last scream as I thrust the blade into his skull. From behind me I heard a faint roar and as I turned around I saw marker with his eyes glowing purple along with his horn. He raised his horn up into the air as it glowed brightly with energy and lashed his head forward as he released a large blast of black and purple energy that came sailing right for me. I quickly responded by forcing up a wall of bright spikes to block the attack. The spikes rose form the ground just in time for the blast of energy to make contact. The purple energy hit the shield with incredible force but the spikes remained strong and the black and purple magic passed over the shield like a spout of water and started to spray onto the other ponies. They were caught in the splash from my shield and the black magic covered their bodies.

I watched in shock as they all began to scream and shout in pain as their fur started to fall off and their skin began to fester and boil. Cysts and calluses quickly formed on every inch of their bodies as they soon would started to burst and peel away causing them to bleed. Large chunks of skin started to peel off their bodies and fall to the ground. One pony that got the short end of the stick tried walking away and his leg just clean and fell off. Without warning it just fell right off, it was fused to the ground and melted like a plastic doll melting on pavement. The skin and muscle melted onto the ground and his leg ripped right off, bones and all. The bones of his leg seemed to be more delicate than paper. But the most horrifying part was that he wasn't bleeding. I saw the stump from his leg and all the veins were black and swollen. The blood in their bodies had began to clot and harden from inside them, I'm really glad I decided to block that attack. I watched in shock as the skin and muscles of all the unicorns started to rot and fall off their bodies leaving only skeletons lying in piles of rotten flesh and internal fluids. Once all the screaming stopped and the ponies had been fully rotted away I lowered my shield and looked back at Makar. All of the unicorns that weren't caught in the blast stared in petrified horror and disgust.

I looked back at Makar who gave me a devious smile before raising his horn again and shouting as he released another vile blast of dark magic. I quickly responded again by shouting and letting out a beam of light from my i front of me that met with markar's blast. The two blasts collided and caused a void at the point of impact. The air rippled and the blasts collided merging with each other and forcing raw energy out wards in the form of static bolts and spurts of plasticized energy that covered the ground and burnt through it like acid. We were both caught in a stalemate of magical firepower. I could feel the hatred coming from Makar and I could tell he might start slipping. Just beyond him I looked up at the sky and saw the moon just touching the edge of the sun, the eclipse was going to happen soon. I looked to the center of the temple but the beam still remained, that's taking those three so long to destroy the obelisk. Getting mad now, I let out a fierce shout as I stomped my front hooves on the ground which caused the roof of the temple to crack and splinter. Light shone through the cracks on the ground as waves of white energy started circling around my body and I forced more power into my blast. The white bolt of energy that pushed against the black mass of dark magic started to force the markar's blast back and I began gaining some ground.

I let out one last fierce shout as I pushed with all my might and within no time my white blast of magic doubled in width and completely overtook markar's and his blast of dark magic. The white bolt engulfed him and his magic faded as he let out a shrill cry of pain. My blast faded and I let my head down and started to breath heavily from exhaustion. I looked up to see markar floating there burnt to a crisp with his whole body charred and black as his demon wings crumbled to dust and he fell to the ground. He hit the roof of the temple with an audible thud and a crunch as he trailed smoke from his burnt body. I picked myself back up to a standing position and walked over to him. All of the ponies that had witnessed what just happened on this roof where now on the verge of fainting from the fear they felt for me. I walked past them and over to markar's charred body. He was coughing and wheezing as blood spurt from his mouth and he curled up slightly in pain.

" how do I stop it?" I asked placing one hoof on his chest causing him to grit his fangs and growl in pain. From the softness of his chest I could tell that all the bones in his body were no more than dust now.

" you... You can't, it's too late." He said giving me one last laugh before his head fell limp and his eyes shut. Blood started leaking from the side of his mouth and onto the temple roof. He might not be dead now, but he won't survive, so I don't have to worry about him any longer. I took my hoof off of his chest and stepped back a few feet. I turned around and shot a death stare at all the other ponies on the roof who stumbled back in fear and gazed off into space as their lives flashed before their eyes.

" how do I stop it?" I asked them all. I waited but they remained silent. " TELL ME!" I shouted at them causing the ground to rumble. They all started to whimper and cower in fear.

" y-you can't..." Said one of the ponies. " there's not enough time to stop it now, once the sun is eclipsed that endobox over there will summon our god necronomicorn to bring a plague over the world and rid it of all earth ponies and Pegasus ponies." He said whimpering on the ground and covering his head. I walked over to him and looked down at him. I glanced over to the beam of light and noticed another obelisk in the middle of it with the strange box from before resting in the middle of it all. I looked up to the sky and saw the moon almost to the edge of the sun and let out a deep sigh. He was right, there isn't any time left.

" if you don't wish to die then leave the temple now." I said looking down at him. They all looked at me with strange and scared looked but they took my advice and bolted to the nearest stairwell. They all flooded down the stairs just in time for twilight and the others to trot back up to the roof.

" crimson the obelisk isn't going to break and..." She paused for a moment and looked around. " oh god what happened here?" She said covering her snout at the horrifying smell of death lingering in the air.

" you three need to get out of here." I said looking at them.

" why?" Asked thunder.

" there isn't any time left before the ritual is complete." I said gesturing up to the almost fully eclipsed sun. " in only a few minutes the sun is going to eclipse and a some ancient god of death and decay is going to appear on this rooftop... You need to go." I said.

" what are you talking about?" Asked twilight.

" the circle down there isn't some kind of magical cannon... This is a summoning circle!" I shouted at them trying to get them to leave, but it was too late. Suddenly the sky around started to darken as I looked up to see the moon in the sky glowing brightly with a blinding ring of light around its edges. Suddenly it began to glow a faint blue. Then small dots of light started to scatter around the sky as the gerund began to rumble. I stood still and stared up at the sky while the others quaked and wobbled, trying to keep themselves upright. A blue circle of energy appeared in the center of the roof of the temple and started to glow brightly as a blue ring of light radiated around the edges of the circle.

" it's happening..." Shouted thunder.

" get down now..." I said to the others. Suddenly there was a faint ringing and I looked up to the sky to see the blue dots in the sky being pulled towards the moon. One by one they were all engulfed into the blue glowing moon. Once the last one was there nothing seemed to happen. But then the moon faded over to a sickening shade of rotten green and black. Then the beam firing into the sky connected with the eclipse and began to widen. It grew and grew in girth until it covered the first ring of the summoning circle. It stayed like that for what seemed like a while, then suddenly a large blast of sickly green and black energy fired down from the sky and expanded to the second ring of the circle. The force emanating from the blast was furious and threatened to blow us away. I quickly looked over to see twilight thunder and martukus slowly backing down into the temple. Twilight glanced me a look before running down the staircase with the others. I could see the nervousness in her eyes as she shot me a look that told me not to die. I don't even intend to.

Soon a figure started to materialize inside the blast of green and black energy. It was only visible through the green energy that passed by but I could get a solid look of him. The creature was a large stallion with a long tail and hair. I decided to get onto his level and started to grow and increase my own size to become more godly. The energy firing from the sky soon started to dull down and eventually came to an almost dead stop as it started to slowly fade. Once the magic beam faded I could fully see the god in front of me. He was a pony, a stallion with large muscles and fangs. He had black fur along with a green sickly green mane. He also had holes through his hooves and fur along with giant insect type wings that sprouted from his back. He... He was a changeling. Or at least looked like one, he was close to the verge of being a my but with the physical features of a changeling. He wore robes that looked like they had been corroded and dipped in acid then buried in dirt. He looked off towards the forest with a serious expression, but then it changed to one of confusion. He looked around the whole temple then his eyes gazed over the whole battlefield until they settled on me. His hair was beginning to fade white and he had a thick white beard and mustache.

" your not a cultist..." He said in a voice that sounded much like a changeling. It had a strange clicking sound to it and a creepy echo. " what happened here?" He asked.

" wait... What?" I said. " you... Your here to destroy the place... Aren't you?" I asked.

" what happened to all the cultists?" He asked dodging my question.

"I... I killed them." I said.

" well it's about damn time something changed." He said letting out a deep sigh and sitting down. " one million years I've had to replay this damn scene and it was getting unimaginably boring."

" wait... You know that your trapped in a rift in time." I said.

" no...I'm not trapped." He said. " I know all about what happened to this place, these damn cultists tried to use my powers to spread a plague across the world...idiots, I'm not going to do something stupid like that."

" oh... I kinda... Well...I figured you would be evil." I said.

" yeah... That's what most ponies think." He said. " say... I know you." He said looking at me.

" you... You do?" I said taken aback slightly.

" yeah... Your that crimson guy that took on the role of peacekeeper. Nice to meet ya, my name is mastakus, god of decay and disease." He said.

" oh...well, it's nice to meet you." I said sitting down too.

" hmm... Ways wrong, you seemed troubled." He said.

" well... Sorry, this isn't exactly the outcome I was expecting... I thought I was going to end up fighting somepony to the death." I said as he laughed quickly after.

" I'm too old to be fighting." He said. " I'm more of a omniscient god, than one who directly takes action like you, but I remember the good old days when I would drop down from the heavens and cause a big scene and everypony would freak out and worship me... Hahaha..." He said recalling a few memories and laughing.

" so if I'm correct, then you've had to return to this place every time these cultists perform the ritual." I said.

" yeah..." He said smiling.

" why do you some here then?" I asked.

" because these fools got their dirty hooves on some very ancient and sacred magic. The summoning circle they use forces me to return here... But I can see that since your here then you must be trying to fix the place." He said.

" well... That's the idea." I said. " but, if I could ask, how did this place meet this kind of fate?" I asked.

" well, if your wondering, it wasn't me." Said the god pony.

" it... It wasn't?" I said confused.

" nope." He replied. " when I was summoned here and these ponies told me of their plan I immediately refused."

" so then what happened?" I asked.

" well... It might be a bit hard to believe." He said glancing me a look.

" try me." I said smiling. He chuckle lightly and smiled.

" well, for a while now this place was always doomed to be destroyed in time." He said. " you see a great cosmic worm devoured this place millions of years ago." Said mastakus.

" a cosmic worm?" I said with a hint of great disbelief.

" yep... And a big one too." He said. " well, he's big now. You see I had stayed here to try and defeat the worm but I was too slow and he devoured this place, but I managed to trap him in this time loop for eternity. That, however, was a mistake on my part." He said.

" how so?" I asked.

" well, cosmic worms... Aren't as large as most believe the, to be, they are very strong and very rare, few mortals know of their existence. But, me trapping him hear, meant I forced him to devour this place for millions of years, and all that eating has made him a bit... Well."

" fat and happy." I said finishing his sentence.

" very so..." Said mastakus. " he will be here soon." Said mastakus.

" how soon?" I asked.

" in about... Ten or so minutes." He said looking up at the sky. " if you would help me, then maybe we could defeat the beast together and finally revert this place back in time." He said.

" I don't see any other way... It is my job to keep the peace... A d that's what I have to do, but I have another mission here, not just for the worm." I said.

" I figured that." He said. " I'm sure your looking for the portal, aren't you?" He said smiling.

" yes..." I said.

" I hope you know this particular string of portals leads all the way to the dwelling of shall-grahkan."said mastakus.

" I know... I have business with him." I said.

" so I've heard, the word has been getting around the realm of immortals." He said.

" it has?" I asked.

" well of course, whenever somebody falls victim to shal-grahkan word gets around, he is infamous for defeating immortals and taking their souls for his own. As you can tell he hasn't lost a battle yet."

" and what do the others say?" I asked.

" they say that you won't make it." He said. " but I remain skeptical... If you do defeat him though, then your reward would be the greatest of all other rewards." He said.

" I already know what my reward is, I need to rescue my wife." I said.

" ah...a wife, that's his leverage, it's just like him to lure his prey to his domain and pick away at them on their journey, your quest is no different from the quest of others." He said.

" so what is that reward you spoke of... Some kind of valuable treasure that I don't need." I said.

" no... Not treasure or riches... But power." He said. shal-grahkan is an evil and despicable being with an unnatural power, he has the power to kill immortal beings, nobody knows how he acquired this ability, but they are sure that it has made him unstable, since he himself isn't truly an immortal being."

" he... He's not?" I said.

"No... He was a simple mortal once, but has achieved great power, he resides in his own malicious form of hell where immortal souls burn." He said. " If you can kill him, his domain will crumble and the immortal souls will be set free to the afterlife they deserve."

" I kinda figured that would happen." I said admittedly. Mastakus went to speak but before he could the ground began to tremble violently.

"Oh… the worm is early…" he said as we both kept our balance on the trembling ground. "tell me… he friends you have brought with you… where are they?" he asked.

"In… in the temple." I said.

"Good… keep them in there." Said Mastakus "that's the one place the great worm didn't devour."

"Then how is it still part of this rift?" I asked.

"Because I put a spell on it to protect it, that's what's keeping it here…" he said. "plus its what causes rip in the fabric of space, which is the portal you're looking for."

"So… while I'm fighting the worm… you're just going to make the portal?" I inquired.

"Well…no, the portals already here… it's always been here, since this place has not been affected I only had to make it once, and the worm can't touch this place." He said as the ground shook once more. "Better get ready for a fight." Said Mastakus. He pointed behind me and I quickly snapped back to see the forested area behind us falling apart. The ground shook violently and the trees in the surrounding area began to collapse and sink. once there were no more tree's we saw what looked to be a giant sink hole swirling in the ground and sucking everything up. Suddenly the air was filled with a deathly roar.

"Oh shit…" I said as the trembling almost knocked me off the side of the temple. I used my wings to push me right back onto my hooves and looked back down on the swirling sink hole in front of us. Suddenly the dirt and sand started to rise up like a dome as a giant creature started to appear before us. As it rose up from the ground the dirt and sand began falling off of it until it had become visible. Standing in front of us was a giant worm… just like he said. it was a large thick skinned worm with spikes all along its body. Not only that but it had strange glowing curves along its body that illuminated with purple light. The large beast turned the top of its body and looked over to us. It had purple round circles around the sides of its head that acted like eyes. He opened his mouth and let out a terrifying roar that I couldn't even describe. Its mouth was an endless hole of sharp spikes and teeth. The creature roared once more and quickly dived back down into the ground. Its tail flung up into the air and it too was long and covered in more threatening looking spikes. Soon enough it sunk back into the ground and was gone.

"Hey… crimson!" shouted out a voice nearby. I looked behind me to see twilight and the others running up the stairs to the top of the temple. "What's going on here?" asked twilight.

"And, uh… who's your friend?" asked thunder.

"Oh… yeah." I said looking over to Mastakus who looked over at my friends with a blank stare. "guys, this is Mastakus god of decay, Mastakus these are my friends twilight, martukus, and thunder…" I said.

"Can we trust him… a god of decay?" asked martukus.

"Well, I think so." I said.

"You know I'm not an evil god just because I'm the god of sickness and decay." He said. "Hell if it wasn't for me equestria would have been wiped out by the black plague thousands of years ago."

"That was you?" asked twilight.

"Of course it was…" he said. "Do you really think something like the black plague just magically disappears forever?...not likely." He said just as soon as the ground started to rumble again.

"what is that?" asked twilight.

"a giant worm…" said Mastakus.

"a…a worm?" asked twilight.

"You three better find something sharp and pointy; we're in for a fight." He said as suddenly as the quaking got worse and the large glowing worm burst from the ground behind us as it let out a tremendous roar. It stared straight at us and let out a terrifying roar. The others looked at it with horror and fear. It opened its mouth to reveal a spiraling vortex of sharp teeth and just as it did that something started to glow deep within its mouth. Suddenly that glow became an incandescent light which in turn turned into a fearsome blast of magical energy. The blast fired right at us and we dodged out of the way for it to cut right across the ground and slice everything in half except for the temple which seemed to hold some kind of spell against the blast. It must be what Mastakus was talking about.

Speaking of Mastakus, he was the first to attack. He started glowing green and black like slime started to ooze from the pores in his body. He fired a deadly bolt of black magic that trailed sludge along its path. It hit the creature with enough force to force the thing to stagger and sway backwards. I followed up his attack by stomping my hooves on the ground and causing large spikes to shoot out from behind me and fly through the air at the giant worm. The spikes flew overhead and pierced the beast all over. He let out another fearsome shout and fired another blast of energy. The blast came right at me and forced me backwards as I tried to block it. I couldn't block it but it didn't kill me, it just burnt me slightly and forced me backwards.

"Hmm… It seems too easy now." Said Mastakus.

"What do you mean easy, I don't think cosmic worms get this big, do they?" I stated.

"No… they don't." he replied as the beast fired another blast at us but we dodged as it cut past the temple and sliced up the forest behind us. We gathered back up and fired more attacks at him. I fired more spikes and the others fired their own types of magic. "THAT'S IT!" shouted Mastakus. We all looked over to him. "he must be getting fat and slow… he's been eating for thousands of years straight. He must have grown weak." He said.

"why is it just now?" I asked.

"well… I haven't fought him besides that last time we met… I always thought he was getting stronger as he got bigger… I guess I was wrong… he looks like he's ready to burst." Said Mastakus. But with us not paying attention a sudden burst of purple light enveloped Mastakus and sent him flying off the edge of the temple. The worm had fired a blast right at him and carried him away. He grunted in pain as he was forced away and I turned to the worm. I glared at him and my whole body started to glow furiously. I focused all of my energy and fired a giant blast of energy towards the worm. The blast hit the great beast and started to envelope the whole creature as it swayed and shrieked.

Soon it started to grow larger… and larger. Not in size or strength but it was more like it was inflating like a balloon, oh god I hope Mastakus wasn't right. I glanced over at twilight and the others with a stern look and they nodded. They ran back down to the stairs and fled back into the temple. The worm stopped its shrieking and seemed to stop inflating as it began calming down. It let out a firce roar and I knew that this wasn't over yet. I focused all my energy into one blast and started to charge up my attack. At the same time the giant worm started to call up some energy too as a great purple light started to glow inside of its mouth and the spikes over its body began to rise up and the carving along the worm began to glow furiously. I kept focusing my energy but the worm fired a blast of purple energy earlier than I could fire my own blast. The attack caught me by surprise but I was able to fire my blast off just in the last second. With my attack not at full power I wasn't able to push the worm's blast back at him but I kept it from getting any further. The blast came close to hitting me, it was a mere inches away from me with my blast seeming more like a barrier than an attack.

I started pouring more energy into my attack and soon I was beginning to slowly push back the worm's own attack. The large purple beam of light started to inch back bit by bit while my radiant white blast pushed forward inches at a time. The force of the blast was very strong and it had e sliding back. I had to plant my feet into the ground firmly so I don't go flying back. I had to struggle to push myself forward and keep my ground as I pushed my attack further and further. Finally I let out a massive roar of power and forced all of my energy into the attack as my great beam of light grew blindingly bright and soon pushed the worms attack all the way back and even engulfed the worm in light. It began shrieking and wailing again as it started to inflate, and soon the worst happened.

Like the sound of a bomb there was an ear shattering explosion as my blast of white light was disrupted by a large red explosion of blood and tissue matter. The worm had literally exploded from the force and its blood spewed out in all directions. I covered myself with my wings as blood hit me from in front like a wave and forced me on my back. Once the wave of blood and entrails passed I slowly got back up coughing up blood that I'm sure wasn't even mine. I could feel a pitter patter on my head and the sound of rain filled the air, but it wasn't water that was raining down… just more blood. I looked back down to see a blood covered ground with entrails and organs scattering the ground. The whole forest had turned red. The lower half of the worm was slunk over on the ground still bleeding; it looked like it had been torn apart. I stood there on the top of the temple breathing heavily and trying to regain energy. That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be… well, the fighting part at least. It's going to be days before I wash all this blood off me.

"Eugh…messy." Said a voice behind me. I looked back to see Mastakus who was not as bloody as me except for any of the blood rain splattering from above us. His hooves were sufficiently lathered in blood and entrails though. "Nice job though, I'm glad I can be done with this place." He said. "Now that you've killed the worm this place can start healing. Once we all leave it should start healing on its own."

"Can you bring me to the portal now?" I asked

"Crimson!" said twilight as she and the others ran out over to me. "oh god you're covered in blood." She said.

"Well at least it isn't mine." I said with a smile. Twilight smiled back but with a smug look on her face as well.

"if you're looking for the portal… it's here." Said Mastakus as he waved his hoof over the center of the temple roof and it began to glow a faint green. Soon three short beams of light fired from the roof and traveled a short distance into the air before fading. In between those three spikes of light. Opened up a small swirling green circle of energy. "good luck." He said.

"Well…" I said looking right into the portal. "I guess we made it… now the real adventure begins." I said.

"Make sure to write a postcard telling me what it's like." Said martukus behind us all.

"Oh don't tell me you're not coming with us either." said twilight in a very sullen and disappointed mood.

"Sorry… but it's not that I don't want to… trust me I do." He said. "It's just that I can't leave… I'm temporarily bound to this world. It's not my time to leave yet… but I wish the three of you the best of luck."

"Well… I guess this is goodbye." I said smiling and walking over to martukus. I stuck out my hoof and we both shook farewell.

"No…not goodbye… I'll see ya later crimson, I know I will." He said smiling. I smiled a bit more too and so did twilight and thunder. We stopped shaking and I walked over to the portal.

"Well… I guess I'll go first." I said. I took a deep breath then exhaled in a deeper sigh. I swallowed any fear I had in me and took it one step at a time. I was on the very edge of the portal and in a ditch effort I just threw myself in. everything went white and soon I was in a green spiraling vortex. Everything was spinning around me and I felt a retching feeling in my gut, like I was going to throw up or something. Little by little the spiraling green vortex grew darker and darker until everything was pitching black. Soon I felt like I wasn't hurling through space anymore and the retching feeling in my gut faded. I felt like I was asleep now. And soon I couldn't help but drift off to sleep and let the darkness consume me.

I can't wait and see what strange place we wake up in…

-Authors Note: hello everypony. today this authors note goes out to DeadChaos3 who has metaphorically kicked my ass in a single comment. you can check it out in the comments section. but today this one goes out to you deadchaos. the reason im doing this is because for some reason i cant personally message you back and i need to respond to you're comment. so here we go.

dont worry dude... it aint over, not until the fat lady sings. the comment you gave me was probably the best comment ive ever gotten so far and probably ever. i feel for you dude and i would never disappoint my readers like that...EVER! and i do apologize that this chapter has taken a while to get out. but the school year was getting over with, and college finals were beginning, and it was all just a huge nightmare. so worry not, this isn't even close to the end.

and to all my fellow brony's out there who have made it this far, thank you. i admire you contributing to the fanfiction in any way that you have and i admire your loyalty to the story. all of you guys have been great and i know that you'll all stick with me until the end, and i do unfortunately say that yes... there will be an end. eventually, but that wont be for a while, and even after that I'm not going to stop writing. who knows? something like dream machine might emerge after ive told the story of crimson blast in full. but yeah... not going to happen soon. so thank you. and hang in there, because there's still more authors note left.

**IMPORTANT:** just so you guys catch this, im going to have a contest. as you now ive been asking for OC's. and ive been getting more than i can handle. so i came up with an idea. if you have an original character that you would like to be put into the story send it to me, and out of all the submissions i get, ill choose five of the best to be stars in the story, and they'll stay until the end as well... or until i kill them off which has a very real chance of happening. so send me a PM of your OC with the following: name, race, sex, colors, cutie mark, a brief but accurate physical description, emotional qualities, a background story and anything else that you feel you need to point out. I'm looking for OC's with good character. that's what im judging them on, character... anything else is icing on the cake. you're only allowed to hand in ONE OC for each account and make sure you go over it well, because i will only judge the first submission if you left something out then that's too bad. submissions must be in by next Friday July Fifth. the next chapter i release after that date will contain the winners.

if you are confused or have any questions make sure to ask me and I'll be sure to answer your questions to the best of my abilities.

good luck to you all my friends, fans, and fellow brony's. until then may the best OC's win, and stay shady.

~Shadow~...out!


	48. Chapter 48: Scarlet Moonlight

I didn't know where I was, everything was dark, but I could sense everything around me. The place around me felt… oddly familiar but somehow it was vastly different. It didn't take long for me to start coming to my senses as I opened my eyes and light started filtering in. I moaned lightly and started to turn about. I could feel the cold scratching of grass on my back and the crisp sunlight beating down on my face. There was a cool breeze in the air that swept my hair to the side. When everything became clear through my eyes I could see trees, and there were spots of light shining through the treetops above us that lit the ground alight. I turned my head to the left and saw more trees suggesting that we're in some kind of forest. I turned my head again to see that to the right of me laid twilight and thunder. I moaned again and rubbed my head because it was killing me. I sat up and looked around more thoroughly. After a little bit of looking around I knew that we were in a forest… but it looks familiar. I think I know where we are.

"Twilight… thunder… wake up, c'mon." I said shaking the both of them awake. The both lazily moaned and started to get up. Twilight rose up and started rubbing her eyes as she looked around. Thunder got up and stretched his arms out as he let out a big yawn.

"WH-where are we?" asked twilight.

"Did we get through the portal alright?" asked thunder.

"I think so… but twilight." I said as she was now more fully focused and awake. "Doesn't this forest feel… familiar." I said.

"I suppose… but once you see one forest you've seen them all." Said twilight

"I didn't ask if it 'looked' familiar… does it feel familiar… use your senses." I said.

"Wait a second…" said thunder. "Isn't this…"

"Oh my god it's the everfree forest." Said twilight in shock… she figured it out. "but… how, what are we doing back here… we were just in stallasia, that portal was supposed to send us to a new dimension not send us back… it must not have worked… we failed." Said twilight hanging her head down low in defeat.

"Now hold on…" I said. "Don't go shooting down your hopes just yet…" I said helping to reassure her... "Something's not right. You might not be able to tell, but this place is vastly different from the real everfree forest, or even the neighboring ponyville. Something has changed, the portal might have worked after all… but we might be in some kind of alternate sub-universe."

"So… it worked… this wasn't all for nothing?" asked thunder.

"It's hard to tell… but I have a good feeling about it." I said.

"So if this is the everfree forest… then ponyville must be close by." Said twilight.

"Or at least an alternate version of ponyville." I said. "I should warn you twilight, that we might end up meeting…well… you, but the alternate version of you, so I can't say what will happen." I said.

"What about the alternate version of you?" she asked.

"Well…I'm not actually a part of the universe you are from… but there is a chance that we might end up running into ourselves… but whatever you do don't reveal who we really are… unless they figure it out." I said.

"I don't know about you two… but I'm excited." Said thunder.

"Yeah… I suppose it is a nice twist from the norm…" said twilight.

"So which way is ponyville" asked thunder. We all looked around and I used my senses to guide the way. I focused my energy and pinpointed a pool of multiple energies to the east. That must be where ponyville is.

"I'm sensing a large mass of energies this way… it must be ponyville… lets go." I said moving onward. Twilight and thunder started following me and it was easy to see that they were somewhat excited. To be honest I was excited too, it's not every day you go to an alternate universe of your home. We started making our way through the forest and around the shrubs and bushes. Soon enough we pushed through onto a small hoof beaten path. I think I know this path, it definitely seems familiar.

"Hey… this is the path that leads to flutter shy's cottage." Said twilight.

"Fluttershy… she's the yellow one with the pink hair right… likes animals." I said.

"Yes… crimson she's one of your best friends… why are you acting like you don't know her?" asked twilight.

"I was gone for one thousand years for training… remember… everything is a bit fuzzy." I said.

"Oh that's right…" said thunder.

"Sorry… I forgot, it's still a bit hard to believe." Said twilight.

"I suppose it is… but when we get to ponyville your going to have to give me directions… because I've honestly forgotten my way around." I said making twilight giggle a little bit.

"Sure thing." She said.

"Hey wait…" said thunder making us both stop. I looked back to him to see what was wrong; I didn't sense anything was wrong. Then again my senses are a bit dulled form this strange feeling I have in the air.

"What is it?" asked twilight.

"Crimson… what if we run into the alternate version of rainbow dash?" he asked. It was a rather good question that I had overlooked, what will happen. I'm not sure how different she will be in this universe, and she might not even recognize me. I guess it would be nice to see her face again, but… it would be like the universe is taunting me.

"I hope we don't…" I said. "Let's leave it at that." I said as I turned around and started moving back down the path. Twilight and thunder exchanged a concerned look for me but followed close behind me nonetheless, I think that they understand, I can imagine they would. I followed the path through the forest until up ahead I saw a light and a clearing, it must be the exit. I picked up the pace excitedly and soon the bright light of the opening grew even brighter until the sun was shining on us and blinding us. I covered my eyes for a second and looked back. As the white light faded I could begin to see the world around me. I looked around and just as twilight said the path lead right to flutter shy's cottage, from what I remember of it, it hasn't changed. Off in the distance I could see ponyville. Just looking at it flooded my head with memories of previous times.

"Its ponyville… we made it." said twilight.

"It doesn't seem any different." Said thunder.

"It doesn't look like flutter shy's home…" said twilight. "Maybe we should head into town?" she suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." I said. "Besides, I think at some point we're going to need to see the princess, she might know where the next portal is that we need to travel through."

"That's true… alright let's go." Said thunder moving on ahead with twilight. I glanced back at flutter shy's cottage one last time before following close behind them. We started to follow the path away from flutter shy's cottage into the town and soon we came across the park. We started walking through and I started to notice a few ponies. I didn't recognize any of them so I didn't bother my time with them. Soon we walked out of the park and into the streets which were full of ponies. Some of them looked over to the three of us and smiled. I still had that strange feeling but from what I can see there's nothing wrong… it's just ponyville, it is starting to make me think that we did just end up getting sent back.

"Crimson you were right…" said twilight.

"About what?" I asked directing my attention back to twilight. I paced ahead and started walking next to her so we don't have to talk so loud and other can't hear us.

"Something… wrong." She said. "This feels like ponyville for sure… but the ponies, I don't recognize any of them… but they seem strangely familiar."

"Yeah… I feel the same way." I said looking to the side at some ponies feeling the same way as twilight. one easy way to tell who's who are the colors and the cutie marks, I've seen some familiar ones but the faces don't match. I ended up getting a bit too distracted and without thinking I accidentally walked right into something big and soft, I think I might have ran into another pony. I quickly shot over to see who I bumped into and was hit with a sudden feeling of nostalgia at the sight of the pony I bumped into. But like an instinctive reaction I blurted out. "Oh… sorry, my bad." I said.

"Oh… no worries sugar." Said the pony in front of me. She was a mare, a rather tall mare at that. I quickly looked her over and she was lean and curvy with red fur and long orange, blonde hair. She had big green eyes and a bright smile. To be honest she was extremely hot and attractive. "Say… y'all must be new in town…" she said. I looked over to twilight and thunder who looked at her, or more like, stared at her. I could see some kind of nostalgic shock in their eyes. I must be missing something. "Welcome to ponyville… my names red delicious." She said giving me a sexy wink and turning to walk away. As he turned I got a big glance at her cutie mark. It was a big green apple with a slice taken out of it. Suddenly a flash of a different pony ran through my head. a pony just like her, but a stallion, who was big and muscular with the same cutie mark… it was big Mac, applejacks brother…oh god… oh god no. "Y'all have a good time, and be sure to drop by sweet apple acres, we got the best apple in all of equestria." Said red delicious as she walked away with her tail swaying seductively behind her. I could see several other stallions on the road glance at her with dirty looks.

I looked over to twilight and thunder again who shared the same expression as me. Without thinking I focused my energy and teleported the three of us away from the streets. I didn't focus on where we went I just needed to get us out of there so we can think about what just happened. Once we reappeared we found ourselves in the park, which isn't so bad. I think I might have figured out why I'm getting strange feeling about this place. And I can assume that the others are like this too, even the princess… or maybe it's the prince now. We must have landed in a world where everypony has switched gender. Oh god… seeing big Mac, eh… red delicious… I don't know, seeing that made me unsure if I should be aroused or if I should throw up.

"I feel like I need to rethink my whole life." Said thunder lying down on the ground.

"I'm not sure about that… but it was definitely… erm… interesting." Said twilight.

"Does this mean I'm a chick in this world?" asked thunder.

"If you even are in this world." I said.

"I guess that means the ponies here are exact replicas of us… just… different genders" suggested twilight.

"I wouldn't say that." said thunder. "big Mac isn't that talkative."

"Yeah… but she acted just like him. I think it's safe to assume twilight is right to a degree."

"So that means the princess…"

"Its prince now…" I said.

"Oh god my head hurts…" said twilight clutching her head.

"Great… five minutes in and this place has already screwed up twilight." said thunder. "I hope you know that means there's no hope for us… we should go back, there must be another way." Said thunder getting back up.

"Alright… I get that it might be confusing… but we can do this." I said. "I mean… we've seen some pretty weird shit before right?" I said reassuring them.

"yeah but this one doesn't just take the cake… but it goes the extra mile to throw it back in your face." said thunder creating a clever metaphor.

"so then we'll just wipe the cake off our faces and beat the shit out of whatever threw it at us." I said playing along with the metaphor.

"what are you two even talking about?" asked twilight.

"I'm not sure… but I am sure that we need to get through this." I said.

"I hate to be the one to bring this up… but I think we might have to go and see alternate universe twilight." said thunder.

"He's right." I said.

"Also your wife's a dude… just saying." He quickly blurted out to spite me for fun. I smiled and looked back at him.

"Dude shut up…" I said trying hard not to laugh but I ended up laughing anyway; it was pretty funny to think about. Twilight started to giggle to.

"Ah see… now everypony's happy… we should press onward." I said.

"Nice move there jokester." I said shoving him lightly. "Now we should go… he's right, alternate universe twilight could be of use to us."

"Uhg… fine." She said getting up. "Why does it have to be me… why can't we go see alternate universe rarity, or pinkie pie?" she asked

"Because I don't think we can solve our problems with cakes and pretty dresses…" said thunder. I burst out laughing at the joke. Normally I don't laugh so hard at his jokes but they were definitely helping, so that's good. We started making our way out of the park using an exit that leads to twilight's house. We left the park and started making our way down the streets passing other ponies. Now that I knew what was wrong all the faces started to match up, but in all the wrong ways. I saw ponies I knew in different bodies now. Just ahead of us in the distance the treetop of twilights house was in view and we would reach it soon enough. I looked over to twilight who seemed very nervous and a bit shaken up. I tried to stay as calm and cool as I could on the outside as well but I was just as confused and disturbed as she was. And the same with thunder, he was doing and OK job of hiding it but I could still see it on him.

As we started inching closer and closer to twilight's house I could feel she was starting to get very nervous. I really started to feel her nervousness when the house was in direct view and it wouldn't be long until we got there. I looked down at her and she looked up at me. Her ears were laid down on the side of her head and she slumped slightly. I shot a reassuring smile at her and she smiled back timidly but it didn't help ease her as much as I had hoped. I glanced back at thunder who gave me a stern look. I looked back in front of us just in time to make the turn up to the cobblestone path leading to the door. We moved up on the path and soon we were standing right in front of the door twilight stood behind me somewhat hiding but she couldn't completely hide herself. I reached my hoof up and knocked on the door. We waited a few seconds before a voice echoed past us from inside.

"be right there…" said a stern male voice. It sounded strangely familiar. I could feel the hint of twilight in the stallions voice and knew it must be the alternate twilight… or whatever he goes by in this world. Soon enough I heard hoofsteps lead right up to the door and the top half of the door swung open revealing the upper body of the stallion who answered us. He definitely was twilight counterpart. He had the same colored fur and hair, but he had the wide face of a stallion with an odd amount of muscle mass for somepony who is supposed to be a bookworm. His mane was short but stripped just like twilight. He looked at us and smiled. "Hey there… I don't think I recognize you; you must be new in town. My names moonlight sparkle." He said reaching a hoof over so we could shake properly I grabbed his hoof and shook it politely.

"Uh… nice to meet you." I said. "My names crimson blast… do you mind if we come in?" I asked.

"Not at all… this is the public library anyway… come on in." he said fully opening the door now and gesturing us inside. I walked inside but the other two hesitated. I stopped so that moonlight still couldn't see twilight. "so what kind of book are you looking for?" he asked.

"The three of us are not looking for books." I said.

"Three?" he asked "I only saw you and that other stallion." He said. "oh well… what do you need then?"

"We need to speak with you… in private." I said.

"Is it important?" he asked.

"Very…" I replied.

"Uhm… alright then… what do you need?" he asked. I looked back over to twilight who was still very nervous but I gave her a confident smile that somewhat cheered her up. She knew there was no hiding from this. I walked in and thunder followed after me. Twilight still stayed behind but I gave her a worried look that begged her to come on in, but she didn't. "Say uhm… before you ask me anything or whatever it is you need… I've got a question for you?" he said.

"Uhm… yeah… what is it?" I asked.

"You wouldn't happen to have a sister… would you?" he asked, it was a very odd question and very out of place.

"No… why?" I asked. He went to open his mouth to speak but suddenly a voice sounded from up stairs.

"Moonlight… what's going on down there… who's with you?" asked a mare's voice form upstairs. The voice was very relaxing and soft. Soon the sound of hoofsteps started to sound through the house and a pair of hooves became visible on the stairs. Soon a mare walked down the stairs and walked over to moonlight. She looked at me and I looked at her… and my jaw dropped so hard that I can taste the ground. She had pure white fur along with a silky smooth mane and tail that brushed down her sides and her tail dragged along the floor. She had crystal blue eyes and a cutie mark in the shape of a cross… it was me, oh god no. she stared at me with the same expression.

"I…uh, I suppose now might be a bad time to introduce you to my friend twilight." I said using my magic to force twilight into the house. She seemed very surprised and shocked but when her eyes and moonlights net up with each other's they both stared at each other in horror. Moonlight and my counterpart stared back and forth between me and twilight. Me twilight and thunder all shared the same stupid nervous smile on our faces, like it was some kind of bad joke. We all stared at each other in awkward silence for a while. I and twilight stared in awkward silence completely aware of the situation, but our counterparts stared in disbelief as well as in shock and awe. They aren't even completely aware of the situation and they can't bring themselves to words.

"I… I don't believe this." Said moonlight breaking the silence. "This is… well it...it's… AMAZING!" he said blurting out in a spout of amazement and interest. It's not exactly the reaction I was anticipating, but it's better than what I was hoping for. "I mean… look at it, I'm you… and you're me." He said to twilight. "And she's him, and he's her… this is… you have to tell me everything." He said.

"Well, it's not a trick… I don't sense any kind of magical fields around them, so it's not an illusion, and they do share our cutie marks… so it's real… we're the same pony." Said my counterpart looking over at me. "I'm scarlet… scarlet striker." She said in a confident voice.

"And I'm crimson… crimson blast." I said. "Moonlight, this is my friend twilight sparkle." I said introducing twilight and moonlight.

"It's a pleasure twilight." he said sticking his hoof out to shake hers. Twilight awkwardly reached out and shook the stallions hoof.

"Nice to meet you too." She said awkwardly still.

"And this guy over here's thunder rush." I said gesturing over to thunder.

"Hmm… he looks a lot like shockwave." Said scarlet.

"Uh…hi." Said thunder.

"So tell me twilight and friends…" said moonlight interrupting everything with a wide smile on his face. He was using his horn to levitate a notebook and quill over in front of him to take notes. He has the same magical signature as twilight does… which is scaring me a little bit. It could be dangerous if I get the two of them confused. "Where did you come from? And what's it like there? Did you come from some kind of dimensional rift? How different are our world?" he asked bombarding us with questions. There was no denying it… he was just like twilight.

"Actually… we came through a portal to this world… I'm on an important quest and twilight and thunder are accompanying me… there were more of us… but they couldn't handle going the distance." I said.

"So it was a portal you came through… why?" asked scarlet taking over now.

"I told you… it's a quest." I said.

"And what is your quest?" She asked persistently.

"Somepony very dear to me, well… us, was taken by an evil deity… to get to him I have to travel through a series of portal to get to him. Each portal brought us to a different dimension… and this is one of those dimensions." I said. Moonlight was eagerly jotting down notes and such on the notepad he grabbed.

"And since we are so similar I can guess you came from a world of ponies such as this… but…" she said before I finished her sentence.

"But… the only difference between our two worlds is gender." I said. "And I'm not even going to say which one is the original one, because that's one fight I want to avoid." I said.

"Huh… sounds interesting." Said scarlet. "Do you happen to know where you need to be next?"

"Well…no." I said. "The trip was rather perilous… and we've lost a great deal of supplies…" I said. "In fact now that I've just realized it… I don't think our bags even made it through the portal… so we have nothing." I said. Saying this caused twilight and thunder to check around for the bags which weren't here. We all let out a deep sigh.

"Damnit… not again." Thunder said.

"say… do you happen to know anything about a changeling king… by any chances?" I asked.

"yes…" said scarlet getting somewhat furious. "that son of a bitch brainwashed me and forced me to kill king solar along with two of my friends… sure enough I cut his fucking head off." She said.

"And then you resurrected your friends and were dead for three months." I said. "Good… so I'm going to assume there isn't much of a time gap and from what I can tell its spring is it not?" I asked.

"Why yes… the flowers just started blooming a week ago." Said moonlight looking up from his notebook.

"Perfect… so there's no time gap?" I said.

"Hold on…" said twilight. "Something bothering me."

"What is it?" I asked. Me and scarlet both looked over at twilight.

"I think I've been wondering the same thing." Said thunder.

"yeah me too…" said moonlight.

"What?" both scarlet and I asked

"How can there be two of you…" asked twilight. Me and scarlet just looked at each other.

"What do you mean?" asked scarlet.

"I mean I get how there can be two of me, since I'm just like most ponies… but you crimson… you're a god… how does that work" she asked. Me and scarlet both looked at each other again.

"A god?" said scarlet which somewhat alarmed me. "What does she mean you're a god?" seeing the predicament in front of her twilight's confused face was washed over with a look of uncertainty, as was mine. It was awkward to say the least and I didn't know what to say really, but I had to think up something quickly. "Did you mean to say demigod?" asked scarlet which instantly started to relieve me and twilight both.

"oh yeah… sorry. That's what I meant, I thought demigods where more rare, so I just kinda figured." She said awkwardly.

"Well I don't know, but I don't question it. I guess it just works like that. I'm the demigod of this universe and he must be the demigod of some other one." Said scarlet.

"Anyway, enough of this boring talk." Said moonlight. "You three must be hungry, we should get some food."

"Alright, I'll cook." Said scarlet. "My… or I should say, OUR favorite." She said glancing over to me.

"Apple cabbage stew?" I asked inquisitively.

"absolutely." She said with a smile. I chuckled lightly to myself and followed her. "Come on in, and we'll set the table." She said leading us all into the kitchen. I helped set places on the table and scarlet began cooking for us. I am curious as to why she was here but I won't bother with it.

"Alright. I and scarlet will sit here. Here thunder you can have this seat. And crimson you and your wife twilight can sit here." He said.

"Great… hold up… what did you say?" I asked rethinking what he just said in my head.

"Twilight... You know... your wife." He said looking at me curiously.

"Wife?" said twilight looking with a confused look on her face. Everypony was now looking over and staring in awkward silence.

"wife?" said thunder.

"Oh… is she."

"She isn't my wife… we're friends." I said awkwardly. I could see twilight blushing out of the corner of my eye.

"Sorry, I just assumed." He said. I glared at moonlight with a stern look and then to scarlet who gave me a blank stare. Then it all pieced together in my head.

"Moonlight…" I said getting his attention. "You and scarlet are married couple aren't you?" I asked.

"Oh uhm…" he stammered.

"Yes… we are." Said scarlet. "I guess it's a bit shocking seeing how this part of our lives is different." She said. "But seeing as how males and females have different ways of processing and thinking I suppose there was bound to be some changes in our world."

"Yeah I guess so." I said. We all stood there in awkward silence. Scarlet looked behind her at the boiling pot and her expression changed.

"Oh… soups on everypony." She said with a smile while taking the large pot off the burner. She used her magic to gather a few bowls and started pouring everypony soup. She placed the bowls down on the table and we all took our spots. She passed out spoons and we all started to dig in. the food was amazing, in fact it's better than mine.

"Wow… this is a lot better than I make it." I said.

"That's because everypony knows girls cook better than guys." She said.

"I'm gonna let you get away with that one, only because I know from experience." I said. She smiled and took a sip of the stew. We all sat there and ate our food and made small conversation. We decided to talk about how different our two worlds are. There wasn't much different except for relationships and the whole gender thing. I told them I was married to rainbow dash that they identified to be their rainbow blitz. I didn't tell them what really happened to rainbow dash and they didn't bother to ask, so I'd rather leave it at that.

Not long after we had desert. It was some leftover apple pie that moonlight was keeping in the fridge. He said that it was made by Appleseed who's the best farmer in ponyville and a true friend. I figured that Appleseed is the equivalent to applejack. We had some of the pie and it was pretty good. Not long after though it started to get dark and we began growing rather drowsy. I could tell because the light in the windows was gone now and everypony was starting to yawn sleepily. I was feeling rather tired myself too, even though it wasn't that long since we woke up. We did wake up towards the end of the day however so it's not surprising that night came around quickly. Feeling tired now I too let out a deep yawn just as I finished my last bite of pie.

"Heh… I guess it's getting late isn't it?" said moonlight.

"Yeah… I'm getting tired as well." Replied scarlet.

"You three are more than welcome to stay here until you find other accommodations." Said moonlight.

"thanks." I said. "Hopefully we won't have to stay here long; I hope the portal we're looking for isn't all the way back in stallasia…"

"Oh god, I'd probably just kill myself." Said thunder. I chuckled lightly at his remark.

"Well I hope too for your sake it isn't." said scarlet.

"Why don't you three follow scarlet up to the guest room, there's only one bed, but I'm sure she can figure out a way to make things work." Said moonlight. "I'll stay down here and write a letter to the king."

"I think ivy is upstairs." Said scarlet…ivy?

"IVY!" yelled out moonlight. We waited a second and nothing happened. I could hear small hoofsteps from upstairs but I don't think the others could, they were very faint after all. "IVY!?" yelled moonlight one more time.

"I'M COMING!" a young female voice shouted out. "Gosh, calm down." She said now coming into view from on top of the stairs. And as I should have known ivy was a small purple dragon with green spikes and a stubby tail, just like spike… except a girl. "What do you want… who are these ponies?" asked ivy looking at us. "And why do they look just like you?"

"I'll explain this later, right now I need you to take a letter." Said moonlight.

"You three can come with me, I'll show you to the guest room." Said scarlet. We followed her and ivy walked all the way down the stairs. We passed each other and she glanced at me giving me a strange look which I returned. We walked up the stairs and made our way down the hall. And just like twilights house the guest room was just down the hall and to the right. Scarlet used her magic to open the door and we walked right in. moonlight was right when he said that there was only one bed, but if I know myself, and thus scarlet, I know what she's thinking.

"I don't think we can all squeeze into one small bed.

"I know… just wait." She said. She closed her eyes and when they opened they began to glow bright white. The bed soon surrounded itself in a white magical aura and the bed began stretching wider and wider. Soon it grew wide enough that it almost took up the length of the room, easily enough space for three ponies, probably even six or seven with space left over. Not exactly what I would have done, I would have duplicated the bed into three separate beds… but that works too. "there… now you three rest up, I'm sure that in the morning king solar is going to want to speak with the three of you.

"Thank you." I said as scarlet began leaving the room. Before she left she looked back and flashed me a friendly smile before closing the door behind her. I looked to the bed and twilight and thunder had already begun crawling into it. I decided to do the same and crawled into the bed as well. Thunder and I slept on either side of twilight who rested in the middle. I pulled the covers over myself and rested my head on the elongated pillow. I closed my eyes and began to drift away into sleep. It wasn't long until I was caught up in my own world of dreams now. And as I dreamt I couldn't help but think about this new world.

Only god knows what's in store for us next…

-Authors Note: alright guys, the new chapter is here... its friday and the winners for the top 5 OC contest are in. i thank each and every one of you who has submitted an OC for your creativity and dedication to the fandom as well as the chance to use new material, but i can only use so much. so i have the winners and they will be listed below along with briefer details. and i would also like to note that i broke a lot of my own rules and each of the winners are very unique in their own way... you'll see why. and i dont want to have you guys thinking that just because i broke my own rules means that i held others higher than the rest. everypony came into this equal but some people had better OC's you all did very well and i apologize if i did not pick your OC.

**~WINNERS~**

The first winner is **Moonlight **submitted by Moonlight Gamer. And no... its not the moonlight thats in the story now, AKA the male version of twilight, that's just a mere coincidence. this **moonlight** is special because he is half unicorn half dragon with very special abilities which makes him cool in my books. not only is he part dragon but he is accompanied by a pet Chimera, which is a lion, goat... snake...thing...yeah. so that's cool, anyway. thank you Moonlight Gamer for the submission of your OC and congratulations on winning. the rest be sure to check out his profile for cool stuff and a good read.

The second winner is **Moonfire **submitted by Aglitchinthematrix. this submission was absolutely not a glitch in the matrix and very intentional... I'm sorry i had to make the joke... anyway. moonfire goes by the joat mon (AKA jack of all trades) he is an alicorn that is emotionally unstable to a certain degree and is in a lot of trouble with certain other ponies. he is quick to pick up any talent or skill and can learn it and use those skills proficiently. thank you Aglitchinthematrix for sending me your OC and congratulations on winning. please check out his profile for more cool stuff.

the third winner is an exception to my rules because it includes two OC's which pair too well together for me to take only one. but seeing as they go so well together they might as well be only one OC. They are **Dark Wing **and **Light Horn **submitted by Legendary Brony. both are royal lieutenant guards under the direct command of guard captain shinning armor. they are both brothers and are very good at what they do, which is to protect and serve at all costs. thank you Legendary Brony for the submission of these OC's and congratulations on winning. make sure to check out his profile as well.

the next winner is **Neon Abendroth **submitted by NeonAndVolt. now this submission is a very special case because earlier NeonAndVolt asked me if he could borrow a character from my story and i let him. he worked that character into his story very well and it caused changes to his OC. that character... was Alba Rose, so it with my pleasure to say that along with **Neon**, Alba Rose will be returning to the story in the next installment along with the new OC's. Thank you NeonAndVolt for submitting your OC along with reintroducing Alba into the story later on. I'm sure many people are going to be excited about this. congratulations on winning and be sure to check out his profile and read his stories.

The final winner is...*pause for dramatic effect*... **Broadsword** submitted by Lord Curly. **Broadsword **is a sub-captain in the guard and a friend to guard captain shining armor. he carries around a rather large sword and has grown up as an orphan. because of his dark history he remains quiet and indifferent in front of ponies he doesn't know or doesn't care to know. so thank you Lord Curly for the submission of this OC and congratulations on winning. be sure to check out his channel as well.

and thank you all for submitting OC's i know i had a lot of OC's and it was starting to burn me out just keeping track of them all. but there is good news yet for the rest of you. this contest decided the fate of five OC's that are going to be in my story, but there will come a time when i reopen the use of new OC's in my story. and as a disclaimer to the winners: head my warnings. i do promise that your OC's will become important characters in the story, but they are now under my creative control. that measn anything can happen to them and i expect you all to understand this. the reason i say this is because there is a chance i might kill one or two off as time progresses, but they will not be killed in vain, do not worry.

to the winners i say... congratulations.

to the losers i say... thank you.

and to you all, i say... stay shady.


	49. Chapter 49: Jack Of All Blades?

It was early in the morning when I started to come through and my eyes finally opened. Light washed in through the cracks in the curtain that covered the window directly in front of me. I let out a soft waking moan and slowly picked myself up and sat up on the bed. I looked over to my left and saw twilight and thunder still both peacefully sleeping in the bed. i let out a soft yawn and stretched my hooves. The sliver of light cutting through the curtains lay directly across my face and beyond me it cut the clock in half and separated the darkness. It was enough light to work out the time shown on the clock. It was early indeed, not even six yet. I haven't been able to sleep well lately, I think I just need to go and freshen up or something. I looked back over twilight and thunder one last time before slowly and quietly crawling out of the bed and not disturbing them. I walked up to the door and used my magic to quietly pass through it like a ghost to avoid opening the squeaky door.

I looked to my left again and down the hall I could see the bathroom. The lights were off in the hall and the curtains were closed so it was dark. I started making my way down and used my magic to slowly open the curtains up along the way letting some kind of light in, even though there is only one window it will have to do. I got to the door to the bathroom and slowly pushed it open. I turned the knob on the oil lamp hanging where it usually is and the bathroom lit up brightly. It may be a different universe but everything still seems to be the same. And with the female version of me living here there are still tons of hair care products everywhere and other toiletries. I didn't bother with them and walked over to the cluttered sink which was surprisingly void of any kind of makeup whatsoever. Which was strange, I thought all girls wore makeup. Oh well, I'm proud of my female self for not wearing makeup. Scarlet's probably a lot tougher than she seems, she is me after all… but to a lesser extent.

Feeling myself getting lost in my thoughts I shook my head and placed my hoof on the faucet handle. I turned on the water and let it run for a few seconds so it could get cold. Once the water was cold enough I placed my hooves in the water and leaned my head over the sink. I started splashing water into my face to wake me up. I still felt drowsy no matter how cold the water was. I splashed my face one last time and turned the water off. I looked up and looked at myself in the mirror. Water dripped from my wet white fur and soaking black mane. My wet fur clumped together and made spikes of fur all over. I let out a deep sigh and the warmness of my breath caused the mirror to fog up around my face. I stared at the mirror until the fog faded and I could see my face again. I grabbed a towel to the right of me and dried off my face. it wasn't very noticeable now but my fur and face still felt damp and cold which should help wake me up. I guess I could go for a morning walk, like I always used to do, it might be nice a change of pace.

I let out a brief smile at the idea and placed the towel back down where it was. I turned away from the mirror and shut off the oil lamp as I exited the bathroom. I started making my way down the hall and wondered where I would go. My mind is still a bit foggy and I don't remember my way around as well as I used to. I can remember the path I would walk from my house, I walked it whenever I had free time and now the path is burned into my head. I don't know my way around the part of town twilight lives in though. I don't think it could be that much of a problem; I've gotten pretty good with directions. I kept thinking as I reached the end of the hallway and started making my way down the stairs and into the main lobby.

"Awake so early…" said a familiar voice that I couldn't see. I think it was scarlet; her voice was coming from downstairs. As I got into view of her she had a saddlebag on and a smile spread across her face. "Not surprising when you think about it, we are the same pony technically." She said. Seeing her made me smile slightly.

"Yeah, technically." I said. Her smile seemed to widen even more. Its awkward being around yourself, but comforting at the same time.

"You wouldn't happen to be going for a walk now… would you?" she asked.

"Yes actually." I said.

"Figures, it might be nice to go for a walk after soaking your face, that's what I was planning." She said.

"How did you know I soaked my face?" I asked as I stepped off the last step and onto the hardwood floor. I walked over to scarlet who stood by the door.

"I saw you walk into the bathroom and I heard the faucet running… plus your fur is still damp, and I don't think you took a bath in our sink." she said. I chuckled lightly to myself.

"And others wonder why I laugh at my own jokes." I said. She smiled and giggled lightly.

"I know, I cant help it when I'm so funny." She said. I smiled at her and she did the same.

"So do you want to come with me, we do have a lot of stuff to talk about." She said. She opened the door and took a few steps outside before looking back.

"Sure…" I said following her out the door. Once I was past the doorframe I used my magic to close it behind me and me and scarlet started on our way. It was very early in the morning and the suns light was just beginning to creep over the edge of the world. The air was moist and everything was covered in a mist of dew. The birds where just getting up and singing their songs, the ponies however were still snug and warm in their beds. The wind blew through the trees and made the air crisp and cold. "Why don't you lead the way, I've forgotten my way around town." I said.

"Really!? I would have figured you would have known your way around town." She said.

"It's been a while, almost two months since we began our quest." I said. "I'm a bit rusty." I made her giggle slightly and move onward. "And besides, I don't know the path around this part of town as well; I live off ways a bit towards the everfree forest, in a house I built myself."

"Built yourself huh. Impressive." She said. By this time we had made it halfway down the road and already passed a few houses. All of the houses looked the same, everything was the same from what I can remember, but I guess it's just the ponies that have changed. I looked over to the blooming trees and flowers and saw the sun slowly starting to creep its way above the horizon. And as I looked at the sun I saw a cloud of darkness slowly rise up over and cut across the horizon. At first I thought it was some strange cloud but another look gave me a clearer view… it was smoke.

"hey… look, smoke." I said pointing out the column of smoke building up above the horizon. Scarlet looked over and was struck with interest.

"That's where fluttercoy lives!" She said starting to take off. I followed quickly after her and started to think about where that smoke was coming from, and then it hit me. Quivercoy must be the alternate version of fluttershy. That must be her… um, his, cottage. As we ran scarlet quickly spread her wings and shot right into the air and I followed after her. We tore through the air and the ground passed under us at incredible speeds. The large stack of smoke was growing close but we had far passed the boundaries of ponyville and into the everfree forest. Once we noticed that we both stopped. "Well the smoke isn't coming from quivercoy's cottage." She said. "That's a relief."

"Yes but if the smoke is coming from a fire it could spread… or worse." I said.

"True, we should investigate." Said scarlet now taking the lead and flying onward once again. I followed right behind her and stayed close just in case this smoke is coming from what I think it is. We flew right over until we could smell the smoke and it clouded our vision. The smoke was thick and black so it clouded our vision of what laid beneath along with the thick brush of the forest. Scarlet let out a few coughs from the thick smoke and we made our descent. It was difficult to see but not long after we started descending we hit the ground. Scarlet and I touched down and she covered her face with a wing and started coughing. She looked back at me and her eyes were watering. I do have to admit the smoke was thick and had a strange…smell to it.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah… but the smoke is killing me, but I don't think its from any fire, so what could it be?" she asked.

"I think I know." I said spreading my wings out to the side as they began to glow bright white and started to shine through the fog. "Let's shed some light on the situation." I took one deep breath and focused all of my energy to my wings. I thrashed my wings forward and summoned a great gust of wind from behind to blow away all the smoke. Scarlet covered herself from the gust of wind and soon all the smoke was gone and everything was visible now. And just as I though, lying in front of us was a dragon, sleeping, but now sprouting to life from the gust of wind I had created. Scarlet looked back at the dragon and a look of shock spread over her face.

"A…a dragon!" she said.

"Just as I thought." I said. "The smoke was abnormally thick and concentrated to be a fire, and it did smell something foul." I said. "The smoke a dragon snores out when it sleeps." We both looked at the large menacing dragon. It had long sharp scales and vicious and twisted spines sticking from its back. It was blue and its scales and underside were a lighter shade of blue, almost white. It had large orange eyes with black slits. It gave off a threatening huff of smoke and fire before rising up and presenting itself and spreading its vicious and hooked wings. The tissue between each arm of the wing was ragged and torn slightly in some places. The dragon himself seemed weathered and ancient; he must be an old dragon.

"Why do you disturb my slumber tiny ponies?" he asked. I was somewhat surprised he decided to just speak instead of roar. But if I was right about him being an ancient dragon then he should be a great deal wiser than most dragons and won't resort to instinct and violence right off the bat, but even then I don't really want this to resort to violence.

"Uhm… yeah, sorry… we uh… we uh, thought the smoke, you uh, made was…fire." Said scarlet. I was somewhat surprised at how timid she was for this kind of situation. The dragon lowered his head to look closer at scarlet and I could see she was nervous and sweating. The dragon squinted his eyes once and picked his head up and away. He carried himself over to look at me.

"You seem more… well, you seem well grounded." Said the dragon "is what the mare said true?" he asked.

"Yes, we came here at first thinking of a forest fire, but I had my suspicions." I said.

"The smell and thick smoke gave it away." said the dragon.

"Plus we're in the everfree forest, a damp and muddy wasteland of trees and brush." I said. "A forest fire here would be like finding a lake in the desert."

"Hold on one second… uhm, great and powerful dragon." Said scarlet jumping in between me and the dragon. "I need to talk with my friend for a second." The dragon seemed somewhat surprised but drew his head back and scarlet turned and faced me. "Are you crazy!?" she whispered loudly. "You're talking to a dragon… A DRAGON!" she whispered again.

"And? What's the problem… are you afraid?" I asked in a normal voice.

"y-yes… dragons are terrifying." She said still whispering. "We should just go, he's not hurting anypony." She said.

"You remind me of a friend of mine." I said smiling and walking past her. I took one look back at her and saw she was a bit nervous. "There's no need to be afraid. This dragon isn't like most dragons, I think his fire breathing and pony eating days are a bit behind him… uh, no offense of course." I said looking back to the dragon with a blank look on his face.

"I no longer try and hide my age, it is true I am old, and that I am not so active anymore." He said. "So maybe we can go about this in a more…civil, manner." He suggested.

"I was thinking the same." I said. "Now, why are you here?" I asked.

"I wish to rest." Said the dragon.

"But why in the middle of the damp dark forest, most dragons I know sleep on piles of gold in mountain caves… is there something else?" I asked. The dragon glared at me and I gave him a determined look. Before he could answer the silence was disrupted by a flock of birds suddenly bursting from the brush further down the forest. The dragon took a look and I gave a curious glance as well. He gazed off for a few second and glared at the direction the birds left from. He turned his head back to me and kept the same judging glare. He kept his glare and I kept my look before his stare soon became more relaxed and he pulled his head back and gave me a somewhat trusting look.

"There is something about you… the both of you… are not what you seem." Said the old dragon. "Perhaps you can be of assistance to an old dragon." He said.

"So there's more to this than you let on… I thought so." I said. "Tell us dragon, if you need help and the cause is pure… I will help you." I said with a fierce determination. The dragon seemed to crack a slight smile and I gave a determined smirk.

"For the last month now, I've been running from poachers." He said. I could see a wave of surprise rush over scarlet and I admit that I was interested as well, I've never heard of poachers going after dragons. But just that fact that they are poachers is somewhat reason enough to trust him and listen.

"And how is it you came here, and where did you come from?" I asked.

"I came from the north, from the Heavens-Reach Mountains." He said. "While often riddled with dragons of every shape, size, and age I thought it was a safe place. I stayed mostly towards the bottom since these old bones aren't as tough as they used to be." He said. "But that was my mistake, because poachers found their way into my den, and they took advantage of my age." He said.

"Did you fight them off?" asked scarlet. She seemed to be starting to warm up but was kind of anxious about something.

"I did my best, but my flames aren't as splendid as they were two hundred years ago, and there were many of them, well armed." He said. "I fled the cave in hopes that the gold in the cave would be enough to satiate their greed but I was wrong, they came after me again and again. I'm sure that they want me dead." He said.

"But why would poachers go after an old dragon?" asked scarlet. "it doesn't make sense, but wouldn't the bones and hide of a younger dragon be more valuable?" she asked.

"Not necessarily." Said the dragon. "Dragon bones are dragon bones, old dragons simply make easier targets, and most of the old dragons have more gold and gems since they've had longer to acquire them, plus we live lower down on the mountains, less of a trek for poachers."

"Plus dragon scales only grow sharper as dragons grow older." I said. "And dragon blood is magical and a very useful ingredient to make many powerful spells and potions."

"So now that you know, and I am here… will you help me?" he asked. "Or will you take advantage of the opportunity in front of you and slay me and make a profit from my body?" it was a good moral question. This dragon is just sitting here and he's a walking goldmine, easy pickings… but that's not the kind of pony I am.

"Don't worry dragon… we'll help you" I said giving him a determined smirk again which made him give off a smile of hope. "Right scarlet?" I asked looking back. She was a bit taken back, but I saw the good in her eyes. After all… we are the same pony, how could she say no.

"Of course we'll help," she said. "We'll teach those poachers to mess with somepony their own age." She said.

"I think I heard something… this way."

"Shut up you idiot…. Do you want them to know were coming?" said two voices coming from the thick shrub. Those must be the poachers. It wasn't hard to listen to them; we all heard the two ponies. Even the one telling the first pony to shut up was loud as well. Using my advanced hearing I could track their steps through the forest and they were coming this way. From what I could tell I count… ten, no…fifteen. It might take them a bit to get here; the voices were faint but close by. Suddenly and idea shot into my head and a devious smile spread over my face.

"What's that look you've got on your face?" asked scarlet.

"Have you come up with a plan?" asked the dragon making sure to stay quiet so they don't hear us.

"Oh absolutely, and it's so simple." I said. "But first, scarlet." I said whispering over to her. "How good is your acting?" I asked.

"Are you kidding me…? I could be in Broadway." She said with a smug smile.

"Perfect…" I said. "Dragon… can you play dead?" I asked watching a smile spread across his face as well as both scarlet and the dragon started putting the pieces of the plan together.

"easily." He said. He lay down and feigned death. I motioned for scarlet to come over with me and she ran up beside me. We turned around and looked over the dragon just in time for the poachers to draw out of the bush and into our trap. Before they came and faced us I looked at scarlet and gave her a stern look.

"Follow my lead… this'll be fun." I said.

"We got you now dragon!" shouted one pony behind us as he and several others started jumping out of the thick shrub. Putting on our act we turned around somewhat surprised with blank looks on our faces. "Huh… what the hell?" said the pony. All the poachers seemed to be wearing heavy armor and weapons along with utility belts stocked with useful things. Not only that but they had bags full of supplies they would need to hunt animals. And to finish it off, they had tools like nooses and rods by their sides tucked under the bags along with their weapons being shown off.

"Huh… who the hell are you guys?" I asked. They looked at me scarlet and the dragon and their eyes darted between the three of us as they stared in disbelief and confusion. Soon that confusion turned into anger and for obvious reasons too.

"Hey, hold on, I should be asking you that question." He said. "Now get away from our dragon, we've been chasing him for a month now and the two of you aren't going to stop us." He said. He seemed like the guy in charge. He was wearing tight leather armor that was black and covered in buckles and straps. It looked like he kept some kind of knife along every possible part of his body, and some were very well concealed. Most ponies wouldn't be able to see them… most. He had dark brown fur and medium length, spiked hair. His mane was white and his tail was cut short. Just by looking at him I can tell he has a short temper which will only get him in trouble, especially with me, I know how to work ponies with short tempers. I noticed to the side there was one large pony that was holding the leashes to three large and mean looking dogs which were snarling and foaming at the mouth.

" huh…" said scarlet going along with the act. "oh… you must be poachers. Well if you are you aren't very good at it." she said. his eyes grew smaller and her grit his teeth.

"WHAT!?" he said in anger. The rest of his team was getting pretty angry as well at that remark, it was a good one.

"My partners right…" I said. "I mean c'mon… really? You mean to tell me that you've been tracking this dragon for a month and haven't killed it yet, and we get up this morning and kill this dragon without any trouble… you guys are pathetic." I said.

"You're right, these guys are pretty bad." Said scarlet. "Why don't you go back home and catch yourselves some simple fish or something." She remarked making them even madder. They grew mad enough that they all drew their weapons. Some held heavy maces and blunt weapons while others drew swords and daggers and held them angrily in their jaws.

"You better step away from that dragon right now before we skin you alive like the spineless snakes you are." she said angrily drawing out an evil twisted dagger.

"Actually snakes have spines… that's one of the only bones they have other than ribs and a skull." Said scarlet toying with them. She really is like me, which works perfectly in any situation.

"That's it… I'll cut out that sharp tongue of yours and feed it to the hounds." He said which caused the three large dogs from before to start parking and pulling at their leashes. The pony holding them had to tug back to calm them down. "Or I could just have them fetch it for me… sick 'em boys." Said the pony as the guy holding the leases let go of his grip and the three dogs came bolting towards us. I could tell scarlet was a bit shaken and was starting to choke but she didn't let it show so that we don't blow the act. I gave her a reassuring look and she seemed to settle down. Just as the dogs came running at us I turned to watch them. They bolted past the leader of the poachers and came rushing at scarlet. I lazily stepped in front of her just as the dogs were feet away.

I closed my eyes for one second and reopened them to stare down at the dogs with my infamous death gaze. The three dogs looked me each in the eyes and stopped. Their snarling and barking ceased and they came to a halt. Their ears fell limp; they tucked their tails between their legs and began whimpering. I stared them down some more until they ran off into the forest whimpering with their tails between their legs. There was silence for a second and I kept my gaze set in the direction the dogs started running hiding my eyes from the poachers.

"What the hell was that?" he said confused and somewhat furious. I quickly shot my gaze at the poachers and gave them my death gaze as well. I started taking a few steps forward and scarlet moved out from behind me. She took one look at my eyes and stopped. The poachers stared at me and started to cringe somewhat. "You listen to me punk…" said the poacher. He seemed to stop and I halted only two feet from the poachers looking him dead in the eyes with my petrifying gaze.

"Well… what is it?" I asked staring him down. He seemed to begin receding somewhat and was becoming nervous. I decided to close my eyes having him escape my gaze and opened my eyes back up and stared them down normally. "Let me tell you something." I said. "It took you and fourteen other ponies a month to even find this dragon, and me and my partner slew it in one morning." I said. "and look at us, neither of us have a single scratch on us… and we even killed this dragon without weapons… what chance do you really have?" I asked glaring at him.

"I'll show you." He said grabbing a sword and quickly whipping it out. He thrust forward and lunged out at me. I stood still and glared at him. He swung the sword and slashed me across the neck. It wasn't really much of a slash though, the buried the sword deep into my neck forcing my head to tilt to the side a little and blood to gush from my neck. He let go of the sword and back up a few paces. Scarlet let out a gasp of shock and horror. I stood there completely still.

"Poor guy… died standing up." Said a pony in the crowd of poachers. Blood kept running down the side of my neck. Suddenly from behind the dragon began to rise up and looked over to me in shock.

"No…" he said in a subtle and shocked tone.

"The… the dragons not dead." Said one of the poachers. "But that means…"

"It was an act." Said the leader. Soon a wide smile spread across his face. "That's too bad little lady, I guess that tongue of yours wasn't so sharp as you thought, but we'll find out soon… after we have some fun with you." He said as he and the others pulled their blades up and wicked smiles spread across their faces.

"Stay back… I'm warning you." Said scarlet getting ready to fight. I'm sure she can handle this on her own, but this asshole tried to chop my head off and I'm kinda pissed. The leader took one step forward and I turned my head back up so it wasn't tilted anymore. Everypony in the forest seemed to stop and stare at me. The poachers looked in horror but scarlet and the dragon looked on with hope.

"Did… did he just." One poacher stammered before being interrupted.

"No of course not… it must be the wind or something." Said the leader. Since they didn't get it before I decided to try again by looked turning my gaze to the left and looking at the leader. Now the other ponies stared in horror and looked at me. I stretched out my hooves slightly and flapped my wings. I trotted lightly in place and rolled my neck. I grabbed the sword with one of my wings and pulled it out of my neck. A spurt of blood shot out from the gash in my neck where you could easily see my spine and the openings to my esophagus and trachea. I twisted my head to the left and let out a few cracks in my neck and did the same the other way. With the sword out of my neck the bleeding worsened and my white coat started turning red with blood along the right side of my body.

"You know…" I said. "That kinda hurt."

"No… that's impossible…" he said. "You should be dead."

"I should have been dead a lot of times." I said as a quick remark.

"What are you…" he said quaking in fear now with the rest of his friends.

"Oh, that's simple…" I said. "I'm a peacekeeper; I keep the peace and help balance out the pure with the evil. And quite frankly… you're disturbing the peace." I said. "Now… turn around… go home, and I won't have to stain the ground any more than it already is." He looked at me in horror but started to grit his teeth and growl.

"Tough talk for one pony." He said barking out his words. "Blue, get him." He said looking back to a pony with a bow. The pony was hesitant but he looked at the leader of the poachers and pulled back the arrow on his bow and fired it right at me. I stared him down as the arrow traveled through the air towards me. Before it even pierced me I used my magic to stop it in its tracks only a few inches from my left temple.

"How easily the weak follow the blind." I said. "Tell me… blue, why did you fire this arrow?" I asked toying with the confused poachers mind.

"Be-because storm…storm told me to." He said

"And do you believe that what he told you to do was the right thing?" I asked.

"Stop this now… blue fire again, he can't stop every arrow." Said storm barking orders again at the now morally and mentally confused archer pony to the left of the group.

"Do you mind…?" I said looking at storm. "This is an important question…. Well." I said looking back at the archer pony.

"Yes… of course." Said blue. "Storm is our leader and he's made us plenty rich to do his work…" he said confident in storm.

"Huh…" I said. "I figured you to be one of those 'young and confused' types… ah well… no matter, that was still the wrong answer." I said giving him my deadly gaze. Before he could even finish his breath large spikes of light shot broke through the ground and macerated the young pony. Blood and pieces of flesh flew up into the air and a red mist haunted the air around the white spikes. The others looked in shock and horror. I pulled the spikes back into the ground to reveal the mangled and obliterated body of the former pony archer. As his mashed up body fell and spilled all over the ground the others cringed and one pony turned and puked out on the ground.

"Oh god… oh god blue." Said one of the ponies on the other side. I turned my deadly gaze to him and the feeling on my eyes on him called to him and he turned to me and ours eyes met. As he stared at my gaze his eyes shrunk with absolute fear and I could feel the crushing defeat weighing him down as he knew what was coming next. I used my powers to shoot a blade up from the ground under that pony as it sliced him across the stomach and chest. He twitched slightly from the pain and the sharp blade of light curved back into the ground. He stood there for a minute as the others turned their gaze to him. Soon the cut in his underside opened up and all of his vital organs and blood started to spill out from the open slit. Kidneys, stomach, pancreas, liver, all of it came spilling out all wrapped in intestines. the cut even reached high enough to his chest and broke his ribs as even his heart and lungs all started spilling out along with pieces of rib, all intact. He fell down in a pile of his own, still working organs and quickly began to bleed to death.

"You… you're not a keeper of peace… you sick fuck… you're some kind of twisted and demented demon sent from hell." Said a pony in the back of the group. I struck him my deadly gaze as two tendrils of light shot from my back and grabbed him. One wrapped around his waist and the other wrapped around his neck. I raised him up and kept my gaze on him.

"You don't seem to understand." I said. "I'm a keeper of peace, I maintain balance between good and evil, not only in the world but in myself too." I said. "I am an angel in the eyes of those who are good but a demon to those who have strayed on the wrong path." The pony I was holding up tried clasping for breath but he had more things to worry about. With one swift tug I ripped the ponies head off from his shoulders and his body went limp. The head came clean off along with the spine and showered the surrounding poachers in blood. I dropped both the head and the body to the ground and the tendrils of light retracted back to my side as more tentacles of light broke out and writhed behind me. I closed my eyes and when I opened them my eyes glowed bright white as symbols of power began glowing and showing up all along my body.

"WH-what are you?" asked the poacher leader quaking in fear.

"I am the one thing scum like you fears…" I said in a godly second winded voice. "Now, leave this dragon and this place, and never come back. Or face my swift sovereign wrath."

"We should go boss… I know I am." Said one of the ponies running off into the forest with a few others. Some remained here frozen in fear unable to move.

"Cowards… all of you, I'll show you why they call me the jack of all blades." Said the pony leader turning back to me. "I'll teach you to call me scum and come between me and what I've worked hard for." Some of the ponies who stayed stopped being frozen in fear and grinned devilishly as the leader got into a wide stance and glared at me. I sat the intrigued and watched and waited for something to happen.

"Crimson!" shouted scarlet behind me. I turned back to look at scarlet who had a worried look on her face. "I've figured who this guy is, he's sword storm, the jack of all blades."

"What?" I said quietly under my breath just as the pony started to growl loudly and then let out a fierce cry as a gust of wind came from all directions to cover the pony in a hail of wind. Suddenly his showing teeth became shiny and metal as they began to sharpen and his eyes started to turn a violent red. He let out another breath of hatred as his hair began to harden and sharpen until his hair was made of strands of sharp metal, like blades. His ears flattened backwards and became sharp as well. This was becoming interesting. He let out a terrible yell just as spine like blades started popping from his back and two bladed wings burst from his back. A small blade started emerging from his skull like a unicorn's horn, but it was a dagger, and sharp on all sides. The gust of wind stopped and he stood there covered in metal and blades. Even his gaze was sharp enough to cut through metal.

"Are you ready freak…? Because this is how you die!" He said. "Another fallen to the jack f all blades."

"You're not the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve." I said. "But I must say that is quite impressive." I said.

"No trick you have can save you from the sharpness of my steel." He said.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that… but before we fight." I said. "How is it you can do this?" I asked.

"It's none of your business punk." He said growling. "Now…DIE." He shouted thrusting his horn up and large curved blades started shooting up from the ground towards me. Since we were close there wasn't enough time for me to dodge, but I did have enough time to summon my armor onto my body. I was covered in blades now and hidden from sight. One of the blades started to puncture my chest but my armor cut it off. The other blades shattered against my armor. The blades around me stayed up and gave me some time to let out a sigh of relief. If that attack hit me dead on I would have ended up like that first pony I macerated, that would have been ugly.

The blades slowly began to lower and my armor started to glow and shine. Soon I was back within view and it made for quite a surprise to see I had survived the attack. The first thing I saw was the look on scarlet's face. She was filled with horror but at seeing I was alright she gave me a confident smile knowing I could win this fight. The next thing I saw was storms face who was quite bewildered at my sudden change of clothing. I gave him my same deadly gaze and he just flashed me a subtle smirk and started laughing.

"Ha…ha-ha, good. You survived, it would have been boring if the fight ended that quickly." He said. "Now have a taste of this." He said thrusting his horn up again as spikes shot out from right under me with incredible force. Because of my armor they didn't skewered me but the jet of spikes did send me flying. I tore through the air and tried to gain some kind of leverage so I can recover quickly but just as I was getting my bearing I grew closer to the ground and started smashing through trees. I broke through several trees and ended up in some kind of field there I hit the ground and rolled a few more feet before catching the ground with my hooves and making a clean recovery. I looked around and I was out of the forest… and, back in ponyville. Or at least the outskirts of ponyville. I could see to the right of me a cottage.

Outside of the cottage I saw a stallion with a bunch of animals all around him. He looked just like fluttershy. He had a butter yellow coat and short, light pink hair and tail. He was a bit dirty from being with all these animals and being a gardener just like fluttershy. He stared at me in fright and quickly ran off back into his house, just like fluttershy would have, if she didn't know me that is. I watched as he ran into his house and using my hearing heard a faint click as he locked the door. Next to the door was a window where my perceptive vision was able to see him peeking out the window at me. All the animals he was with ran off too. I pulled myself away from the cottage at the sound of something drawing near. I quickly snapped back to see storm jetting towards me in the sky and flying right at me.

"There you are!" he shouted diving right at me. I quickly jumped back wards using my wings to give me a good boost and make some distance as he crashed into the ground. He landed on his hooves and created a crater in the ground. After the smoke cleared I could see him clearly and he was different now. He had more blades covering his body like thorns, but there was a pattern to them, they weren't just random. He must have given himself a suit of blade armor, which is smart for ponies who use brute force and physical attacks. It won't work as well on me though, but if he tackles me that could be a problem, my armor isn't indestructible and soon enough it will shatter. "What's the matter, scared?" he asked with a devious smile on his face. He rushed towards me and got read to charge me.

He jumped at me like he was going to ram me and one of the blades on the back of his head elongated like a sword ready to strike. I quickly grabbed my sword in my teeth and pulled it up and blocked the attack with it. It was a clash between his blades and my sword. I looked at my sword and remembered that this was the sword Celestia gave me. The sun at the base of where the blade and the hilt meet. The intricate design and glowing, golden blade. He pushed back against my block and I pushed back as well, this guy is surprisingly strong, I am somewhat surprised it took him an entire month to hunt an old dragon. He pushed harder against my blade and I put all my strength I one last push and knocked him back with sheer force. He stumbled back and the blade receded and he looked over to me with the same devious smile that shows his sharp steel fangs.

"Heh, that's a nice sword." he said "It's going to make a nice piece to my collection." His dagger like horn glowed and a blade rose from the ground. It was a bit short to be a dagger but not long enough to be a sword. The blade was curved slightly and it had a second blade on the other side of the hilt. It was a dual sword. The blades curved and the weapon seemed to be made out of black steel. The carvings were intricate and the blades were double edged and twisted with etchings along the flat ends. He gripped the weapon by the hilt in his jaw so both blades protected either side of him. he gave me the same devious smile as before.

"If you want this blade then you're going to have to kill me first." I said.

"That's the plan." He replied. Suddenly he bolted back at me and reached me in a matter of seconds. He's a lot faster than his figure lets on. He went to slash at me again with the weapon in his mouth and I quickly but sloppily blocked the attack. The force of his attack caused my head to lash to the left just so my sword didn't fly from my mouth, leaving me perfectly open for attack. I feared the worst until he spun around with the direction of his attack and planted his front hooves on the ground. He reared his hind legs and shot them out. I felt a lot of power built up in this one kick and I prepared to go flying again.

He shot his legs out and they made impact with my chest and sent me flying again. I shot through the air after I let out a fierce grunt of pain which caused me to drop my sword. Not wanting to lose the sword I used my magic to summon it back into my hilt as I went flying backwards. As I spun through the air I ended up breaking through a tree or two along my way. And even worse I soon found myself tearing through a house and then another. After I broke through the second house I quickly lost momentum and hit the ground and tore through the ground until I smashed up against a wall. I moaned in pain and opened my eyes to see where I was.

As I looked around I could see that I was in the middle of the trading district of town. I hit the wall of a store and lay up against it. I left a trail of torn up ground leading to me from a whole in another shop. There were ponies looking at me with shock and confusion. I put my hoof to my head and shook myself back into full consciousness. As the world became now more vibrantly clear all the details around me became vivid. I felt a great pain in my chest and looked down. That attack put a good crack in my armor; it also probably broke a few ribs.

"Crimson!?" said a voice to my right. I knew that voice. I looked to the right and saw… twilight! It was her and moonlight standing in front of a stall. Twilight had a confused and worried look on her face, but moonlight who isn't used to seeing me like this had a shocked and horrified look on his face.

"t-twilight?" I said in surprise to see her here. I was going to say more but suddenly storm fell from the sky and right on top of me. He stomped all four of his hooves on me with incredible force and for a second time seemed to slow down. Pain phased through my body as storms from hooves stomped down on my chest breaking even more ribs and his back hooves stomped down near my pelvis cracking it slightly. The force pushed me deeper into the ground and he looked me right in the eyes only inches from my face. His red and soulless eyes stared at me and his evil, metal smile taunted me and my pain. He soon jumped off of me and time seemed to catch up as I let out a cry of pain. He did a flip in the air and landed in the middle of the street. The ponies in the street back away in fear and one mare screamed.

"Is that all you have?" he asked taunting me. "Big talk for somepony who doesn't even know how to swing a sword. He was right, I'm not much of a champ when it comes to swinging a sword, I can without a doubt say there are others better at it than I am, and storm is one of them. There is, however, something that I am good at, and it's kicking ass. I blinked and began to glow again, this time more violently. I summoned all of my energy and burst form the whole in a swirling cyclone of light and energy. I rose up from the ground riding on top of a small tornado of light. My armor glowed bright and a halo formed above my head. I spread my wings out and they burst forth in a flurry of light. They glowed brightly like the sun and showered the street below with sparks of light. I launched forward to the ground in front of storm and my tornado of light followed. I hit the ground and lashed the tornado around me creating a ring of light which I then forced outward as an attack.

The ring sliced through the air towards storm and he shot two blades from his shoulders which went forward but then the blades grew out in front of him in an X shape which he used to guard from my attack. The sharp ring of light hit his blades and started pushing him back. The rest of the ring pushed forward down the street. Some of the ponies closed their eyes thinking the attack would kill them too, but my light only cuts those who are my enemy, so the sharp blades of light just breezed past the ponies like smoke and they opened their eyes in relief. My attack managed to crack storms defense and soon shatter it. Pieces of razor sharp metal fell to the dirt ground and the force of the attack hit storm and forced him back into a stall. He let out a grunt of pain but quickly got up from the wreckage of the stall.

"Why you… son of a bitch." He yelled as a trail of blades shot from the ground after me. I quickly acted by countering with my own trail of spikes and the two trails soon met and clashed creating a spout of sharp blades and spikes of light. "I'll kill you for that." he said rushing from the side over to me. As he ran after me I shot a few spikes of light which branched off from the other spikes from my first attack. He didn't notice them in time and the spiked hit him hard on the side but couldn't break through his metal covering. They were able to poke through and stab him in places where the spikes didn't cover, but couldn't get deep enough before his own blades stopped my attack. He went spinning across the ground but quickly recovered. He was getting mad now, I could tell.

I went to charge at him but before I could move half a foot forward something stopped me. My left rear hoof was caught on something. I looked back and saw a few small blades jetting from the ground and clasping onto my hind leg. I tried pulling but then the blades grew bigger and soon started digging into my hind leg where there wasn't any armor keeping me there in a modified pyramid trap. I grit my teeth in pain as the blades dug into my rear hoof and kept it stuck there. I tried pulling but that caused the blades to cut me even more and dig into my hoof. I looked over to storm who was grinning. He then started to laugh. I sneered at him and gave him a deadly determined look but he continued to laugh maniacally.

"Ahahaha…" he laughed. "Now where to go, nowhere to run, ready or not… here I come." He said as the blades on his body grew out to greater lengths. He then started running towards me with an evil look in his eye. Even if I do put up a shield, I'm sure he would break through it, crap… if he rams into me then I'll end up in pieces. Crap what now. As he grew even closer I got ready to close my eyes and brace for impact but before I could close my eyes a beam of light fired from the right and blasted storm away. I was slightly awestruck and relieved at the same time. I quickly looked over to the right and saw a familiar face, it was scarlet. She was glowing too with the same armor on, but modified to be a bit thinner and look more female friendly. Her eyes were glowing bright white too as she smiled lightly.

"Look, scarlet's here." Mumbled a pony in the crowd of onlookers. Soon the crowd started to whisper and mumble.

"I knew that guy looked familiar." Mumbled somepony.

"Do you think they're siblings?" asked one pony to another.

"This guy with the blades is in for it now." Whispered one pony.

"WOOHOO GO SCARLET!" shouted a stallion in the crowd who jumped up and cheered scarlet. He was in full pink. I should have known the male version of pinky pie. The resemblance is uncanny.

"What…? There are two of you!" shouted blade who was recovering from the blast.

"You better believe it jerk." Said scarlet walking over to me and shattering the blades trapping my leg. She gave me a smile and we both turned our deadly gaze to storm. "I'm no innocent girl, and you're going to find that out the hard way."

"I don't think so…" said storm. "I'm the jack of all blades… you can't kill me… I'm invincible; I'll cut the both of you to ribbons." He said charging at me and scarlet. Scarlet looked at me and I at her. She gave me a smile and a wink and I could tell what she was thinking. I smiled and nodded and we both turned to face storm who was getting closer to us. His blades trailed a dark path of energy as me and scarlet began to glow vividly. We both were cloaked in a field of light and I focused all of my energy. Sparks flew from us and white bolts of energy started firing from us and connected with the surrounding area. The ground cracked under our hooves and light shone through the cracks. I let out a fierce shout as the ground trembled and scarlet did the same. Our powers started to resonate from each other and we focused all of our energy.

storm let out a fierce shout as he was close now but we jetted out heads forward like we were stabbing the air with a horn and we each fired a blast of white energy. The two blasts soon spiraled and intertwined creating one large blast which hit storm dead on. He blocked and it forced him back wards but he stayed on his hooves messing up the dirt under him. The energy flowed past him and his blades started to crack. I got one last glimpse of the fear in his eyes as his blades shattered and he was covered in a large blast of white energy. He let out a fierce shout which soon faded and was covered by the rumbling caused form the immense energy from our combined attack. Everything soon faded white as the blast soon faded and everything seemed to revert back to normal. In front of us was nothing but a path of charred ground and sparks of glittering light which was resulting residue from the blast. Scarlet looked over to me and gave me a big smile. I gave her a tired smile as well and soon the crowd around us started to cheer us on our victory.

"We make a good team." Said scarlet still smiling. She was a bit breath taken but still in good condition. The same, however, can't be said for me.

"Yeah… I guess… we do." I said breathing heavily and sweating. My chest and hips where killing me and definitely were not in prime condition. I sat down and tried to catch my breath. I wasn't really expecting to get in a fight this early. "Is… the dragon… going to… be fine?" I asked still breathing heavily and trying to talk over the crowd.

"Yes he's going to be fine." Said scarlet. "The question is, are you going to be fine?" she asked.

"Yeah… I'll be… f-fine." I said. "I just need to rest a bit and catch my breath."

"Wow… that was amazing." Said moonlight rushing over with twilight. "The two of you make a great team, I've never seen an attack so powerful, and it was amazing."

"Crimson… are you okay, what the hell was all that about?" asked twilight being her usual self. "seeing her act the way she does always, and worrying about me made me chuckle slightly.

"don't worry… twilight, I'm going…to be fine." I said. "it was just some trouble with a group of poachers in the everfree forest." I said.

"What in the wide world of equestria where you doing in there so early in the morning?" asked twilight somewhat mad.

"It's a long story twilight." said scarlet answering for me. "We can explain later, but I think crimson needs to catch his breath right now."

"Well I can't wait to hear the story." Said moonlight sitting down with scarlet. "You two were amazing." He repeated making scarlet giggle.

"Yeah, I know." She said leaning her head up against moonlight and giving him a small kiss on the lips.

"I think we should get you to the hospital." Said twilight. "I saw him crush you into the ditch over there, I'm sure that you didn't come out of this unscathed."

"I'll be fine." I said finally starting to catch my breath. "Besides I've been fine before without going to a hospital."

"Not really." Said twilight.

"Well I've been well off enough." I said. "Besides this isn't nearly as bad as other times."

"Alright, I just don't like it when you go off and do stupid and reckless things." She said.

"Heh… I worry about you too twilight." I said flashing her a smile. She seemed somewhat worried but she managed to give back a smile as well. She sat down with us and the crowd had dispersed somewhat. Soon a group of five ponies started making their way over to us, all of them were stallions, who looked awfully familiar, just one look and I knew they were my friends… but male.

"That was a mighty close fight scarlet." said the male version of applejack.

"Thanks Appleseed." Said scarlet. The pony trying to hide behind Appleseed was the male version of fluttershy, I think his name was fluttercoy.

"Are the both of you alright?" asked a stallion with white fur and silky purple hair which was curtained and fashioned well. His tail was the same way and he had the same cutie mark as rarity, which only means one thing.

"Yes oddity, were both fine." Said scarlet. Oddity? Meh, I guess it works. "but I think my new friend crimson here got the short end of the stick." She said gesturing to me. The five of them just looked at me and I gave them a friendly wave. Suddenly the pink pony from before took in a deep breath and a huge smile spread over his face. it didn't take him long to shorten the distance between us to five inches.

"You must be new here. Are you and scarlet related? Where did you come from? How did you get your powers? Why do you look the same? What's your favorite color…? Favorite food?" he kept firing off question at me and soon they all just melded together and become one continuous noise. Makes me miss pinkie pie.

"OK, that's enough pinky, leave him alone." Said scarlet. Pinkie huh, I guess not everything changes. I have to admit though, one you find out that your son is all pink there isn't much you can do for names at that point. The continuous noise coming from pinky finally stopped and I could think straight. Scarlet stood up along with moonlight and me and twilight did the same thing.

"Guys this is my new friend crimson and no… were not related." Said scarlet. The two of us both let out armor disappear. The five of them stared at us with awkward looks.

"You lied… look, they're freaking twins." Said the male version of rainbow dash.

"And that mare looks just like moonlight." Said Appleseed.

"The resemblance between the two of you is quite…well, quite uncanny." Said oddity. "What's going on here?" he asked looking at scarlet. I could tell the pressure was getting to her.

"look." I said. "I know there's a lot of reason to be suspicious, but it's a bit of a long story really. One that's better told in private, not on the street." I said to the five stallions.

"Scarlet… how do we know that we can trust this guy?" asked the male rainbow dash floating over to scarlet. "If you ask me I think he's some kind of spy." He said whispering in scarlet's ear even though I could hear everything.

"I'm not a spy…" I said.

"What is it with you and ponies being spies' rainbow blitz?" asked scarlet.

"If I was a spy would I have gone a destroyed an entire street before noon?" I asked.

"I don't know… would you?" asked rainbow blitz.

"That… doesn't even make sense." I said somewhat confused. I think I liked my friends a lot better.

"He's not a spy blitz, we can trust him… c'mon, we should go back to my place, we can tell you all once we're there."

"Alright… but what about this street?" asked Appleseed.

"oh yeah, the street is kinda destroyed." Said moonlight.

"And those three houses I crashed into." I said. "Don't worry I can fix this." I said stepping forward. I blinked my eyes and they began to glow. The large hole where I made impact soon started to rise up and refill the ground and all the black charred dirt started fading back to its original color. The others just watched in awe. All the ponies looked over too. Tentacles of light rose from the ground and reached over to the dented in wall I hit and started to heal the wounds to the building. The cracks in the wall healed up and the dent smoothed out and the cracked glass above melded back together. Next the tentacles of light passed over to the houses I crashed through.

There was a mare standing by the whole in the wall obviously worried about the damage. Once the waves of light passed by her and through the hole in her house she back up and looked in awe and confusion. The waves of light passed through her house and to the other one. Once both houses were full of light they started to mend and fix the broken homes. Pieces of furniture moved to their original places and broken lamps and pictured floated back and pieced themselves together. The wooden walls and ceilings started to mend themselves too and soon the first house I wrecked was fully mended. And the same with the second house. The mare standing outside looked as her house began to fix itself and smiled. Once it was fully healed she closed her eyes and looked over to me with a big smile of gratitude before opening her door and entering the house. The waves of light faded and now everything was fixed, even the stall I threw storm into.

"That's amazing." Said oddity.

"That was so amazingly cool!" blurted out pinky excitedly.

"Wow… I can't even do that." said scarlet still looking in awe.

"well, now that everything's fixed, we should go back to the library, the prince wrote a letter back to me and I was going to wait until you two came back to show it to you." Said moonlight.

"So then why are you here?" asked scarlet.

"We came looking for the two of you; you've been gone for a few hours." Said twilight.

"You usually only walk for half an hour every morning." Said moonlight. "So I and twilight went to find you."

"Speaking of you and twilight." I said. "Where's thunder?" I asked looking over at twilight.

"Still at the library… we should go, he's probably bored out of his mind." She said. She was probably right, I'd be surprised if we got to the library and he hasn't run off somewhere." I agreed and we all started to make our way back to the library. I was curious as to what this world still has in store and wondering what the prince will be like, I figured he'd be kind and humble like Celestia but I'll remain skeptical until then. I almost forgot that I also have to explain myself when we get back to the library as well, and I don't think the others are as understanding as moonlight and scarlet, and we already know how well that went.

Should be fun…

-Authors Note: hey guys hope you enjoyed the new chapter and i should have the next one out soon. also, ive grown somewhat attached to this dimension in particular, because i was more excited about this one, so ive decided that to get to the next portal crimson and friends are going to have to go on another adventure. but before you start freaking out, dont, OK... calm your tits. this isn't going to be as much of a massive adventure as the first one to get to the portal, its going to be much smaller, but still full of tons of goodies. you know, blood, violence and my famous epic scenery. also there's going to be more teamwork between scarlet and crimson. and speaking of scarlet/crimson teamwork, this brings me to an important question that none of us can deny any longer.

are crimson and scarlet going to have sex?

i know everyone has had that thought run through their mind at least once, its undeniable. but the truth is... i dont know.

ive been morally conflicted on this matter for some time now and it has definitely proven to be a topic of interest for a lot of people, ive gotten nothing but messages asking about it or leading up to it somehow...so... I'm going to have you guys decide.

I've set up a poll with this question, and its a simple yes or no question. you can find the poll on my account profile page. just click my blue name up by the beginning of the chapter and you'll be magically whisked away to my profile page. once there find the poll and click your answer. it's a closed poll so you wont see which side is winning or loosing, so it remains a mystery, like always. I'll keep it up for a while and let you guys know when i take it down, but i wont tell you guys the answer. so if later on in the story crimson and scarlet end up doing it or not then you'll all have you're answer. and if any of you are having trouble finding the poll or if it doesn't seem to be working just PM me and I'll try and help, just dont PM me with your answer unless the poll ends up being a total dud and doesn't work for anyone. if that happens then i'll just do it through the message system.

until the next time my friends.

stay shady...


	50. Chapter 50: Prince Of The Sun

"So let me see if I've figured this out…" said Appleseed. "You and crimson are the same pony, and twilight and moonlight are the same pony too. But… crimson and twilight, are from a different dimension where everything is the same but everypony is of the opposite gender… right?"

"Yeah… precisely." I replied. We finally got back to moonlights house about an hour ago and right off the bat I had to explain myself and twilight being here. Luckily when I got back thunder was here too, but scarlet said that his opposite counterpart was elsewhere. And like I said, we got back an hour ago and I'm still trying to make these five understand the situation, we didn't even read the prince's letter. I think oddity and Appleseed get it and maybe fluttercoy too. Rainbow blitz is just floating there and is having trouble but I think he gets the gist of it. And pinkie… well… pinkie is standing there looking at us with a smile on his face and hasn't said a word. Literally not a word… I think he might be broken. I'm also sure that everything I've been explaining over the last hour has just completely passed by him as easy as the wind.

"Well… that's quite the experience." Said oddity. "But I have to ask, why did you come here?"

"We're on a very important quest, there's somepony I have to rescue and the pony that took them has hidden in his own special dimension, I've got to follow a trail of interdimensional portals to reach them. The first portal brought us here… now we need to find the second one." I said.

"Oh… well then." Said oddity. "That seems simple enough." He said with a sarcastic undertone.

"There's no way you could ever really hope to understand what the quest is, it's really a 'you had to be there' kinda thing." Added twilight.

"Anyway… I think we should read the letter from the prince." Said moonlight walking over to his desk where a lone note lay neatly on the top of a book.

"Please if you wouldn't mind, I need to know what he's said." I said.

"alright." Said moonlight using his magic to levitate the note over and unravel it in front of him. He cleared his throat and began reading the letter.

"Dear moonlight." Started the letter. "I have received your letter last night and waited till morning to respond. I am… eagerly interested in what you have written to me, about the three travelers from an opposite dimension. So interested, in fact, that I request that you and scarlet bring the three to me in the Canterlot palace so that we can further discuss the matter and decide what should be done with the three and if they can be trusted. You have written about what they told you about their quest, and if it is true then I believe that they can be of great help to me and my brother. Please bring them to the castle by the day's end. Sincerely signed… Prince Solar."

"Wow… he's not often that formal with his letters." Said scarlet. While it is rather formal he still does sound an awful lot like Celestia.

"Wait… before the day's end." Repeated moonlight looking at the letter. "AH!" he said suddenly startled. "We have to get going now, or we'll be tardy." He said rushing over to his saddle bags and quickly throwing them on. "C'mon scarlet and you three, we have to go."

"If I still remember my way around the Canterlot courtyard from my world, and I know I do, I should be able to teleport us there." I said calmly as I watched moonlight panic.

"Wait… really?" said moonlight stopping dead in his tracks and looking at me with wonder.

"yeah." I said.

"Do you think that will work here in our world?" asked scarlet.

"Yeah, the courtyard is just a stone brick circle with a bunch of hedges around it leading to the door, or am I going to accidentally teleport one of us into a statue, because that could get ugly." I said.

"Yeah sounds just like the courtyard." Said scarlet. "And the bricks on the circle and placed and cut so that they make a sun symbol like the princes mark." She said.

"Well then bingo." I said. "Should be simple, same place, same distance, and same location as it always is and was."

"Well let's go…" said moonlight.

"Wait, can you really teleport us all there?" asked scarlet.

"Well yeah… you can too cant you?" I asked.

"Well I can teleport me and maybe two or three other ponies, but not all five of us, eh… ten if the rest of you want to come." She said looking back at her friends.

"Five….ten, twenty, doesn't matter, I've taught myself a special trick on teleportation that makes it less exhausting to take multiple ponies." I said. "So… that leaves the question, are the five of you coming, it's not my decision, and they're your friends." I said to scarlet. Scarlet just looked back to her five friends silently asking the same thing and her friends just smiled.

"If you want us to come then of course we will, we're your best friends." Said Appleseed.

"Yeah, and teleporting sounds like a lot of fun." Said pinky ecstatically.

"Ugh, c'mon, let's just get going already… the prince is waiting for us." Said rainbow blitz. Scarlet giggled and her friends smiled along with her.

"Well then… there's your answer, let's go." Said scarlet looking at me and smiling.

"Alrighty then… twilight, thunder, are you two ready?" I asked looking over to my friends.

"Always am…" said thunder.

"Let's do this." Said twilight.

"Alright… ladies and gentlecolts get ready to go." I said getting in a wide stance and focusing my energy around the group of us. "You're going to witness a change in pressure then a sudden flash of light. Those with weak stomachs… well, I guess it's too late for that." I said as my eyes glowed white and white light started shining up from the ground and surrounding us. Whisks of white energy started flowing around us faster and faster until we lifted up off the ground and floated in the air briefly. My body began glowing with symbols and markings. Then there was a loud rumbling followed by a deep flash of light, and we were gone.

In the same second the flash of light faded and we were now in the center of the Canterlot courtyard right on the castles insignia of the princess's or prince's mark. The ground beneath us cracked and light shone through as a thunderous boom echoed through all of Canterlot. I got up from my stance and my glowing body began to fade until I was without my markings or glowing white eyes. The others seemed dazed and confused all except for scarlet who shook her head and recovered quickly and looked around. I noticed the courtyard was especially full of guard on this day, even if I'm not from this universe the courtyard is never often filled with these many guards, all of whom looked at us in shock and awe. And with the way this world is, almost all of them were female guards.

"Huh… we made it." said scarlet looking around at the castle. "Nice. Follow me." She said running off towards the palace. The guards who were suspicious at first calmed down once they saw scarlet and the others, but I think they are still a bit edgy around me. I went to follow scarlet as she ran off but remembered the dazed friends she was leaving behind. I took one glance back to see them pulling themselves together and getting up. I figured they could find their own way into the palace easily. I turned back around and quickly started running to scarlet and caught up with her in no time. We ran into the castle and she used her magic to open up the doors in front of us. I looked back once more to the others who were already getting up and making their way over to the palace. I returned to scarlet as we ran into the lobby of the castle.

"It's been a long time since I've been in this place." I said looking around and capturing my surroundings. "Well, not really this place, but… you know what I mean." Scarlet just looked back at me and smiled as she made her way onto the stairs. I started making my way after her and we started our climb up the grand staircase. I looked around at all the stain glass windows until we finally reached the top. There were two guards at the door to the throne room. They looked at me and scarlet with strange looks. Scarlet gave them a cute smile and they stepped aside using their magic to open the doors for us. Scarlet skipped her way on in and I gingerly walked my way in and looked around at the ever so familiar room. I made it a few steps in and started looking at the stain glass windows. They were depictions of scarlet and her heroic deeds, much like the ones in my world.

As I stared at the windows everything seemed to go blurry and the windows faded in and out. Once they became clear again they had changed. They looked like the ones in my world, instead of scarlet and her friends it was me and my friends in the pictures now. Each one was familiar, the time I defeated discord, slayed the ancient dragon, recovered the dark and light shards from the temple in blackmarsh, and even when I defeated chrysalis and saved the princess. Looking at them brought up a lot of memories both good and bad. Reminded me about the time when I was just a nameless pony. I made my way over to the window depicting me slaying chrysalis, probably the most traumatic battles I've ever had. I stared at the window for a few seconds and just looking at the stain glass picture of chrysalis gave me a headache, I could still hear her vicious laughter in my head, echoing through my mind like a bad dream.

"Crimson!" shouted a voice from far away. The voice made me snap out of my trance and the paintings returned to their original state. I shook my head trying to shake out the headache and looked over to where the voice came from. I looked over to see scarlet standing next to a large alicorn stallion. He had pure white fur and long flowing celestial hair. This must be the prince. Instead of having Celestia's purple, green, and blue mane his was a fiery orange that waved in the wind like fire. Around him were scarlet and the others. To my left stood twilight looking at me with a confused, but seemingly blank stare. Right next to her was thunder who looked around the palace.

"So you must be the three ponies from opposite dimensions." Said the prince. "I didn't believe it at first, but seeing you now, I think I'm more open to the idea than I was last night." He said smiling. "Plus I've already caught wind of the fight you had this morning with an infamous group of poachers hunting a dragon." He said.

"Further proving my theory that gossip travels faster than the speed of light in equestria." Added scarlet.

"I'd believe that." I said walking over to greet the prince. I walked up to him and bowed down out of courtesy. He returned the same courteous bow and we looked at each other.

"Greetings travelers. my name is prince solar." He said. "I am the ruler of equestria, a peaceful place, but I'm sure you already know all of this." He said smiling. "If what I've gathered from moonlights letter is correct, then in your world equestria is ruled by two sisters, both princesses."

"That's correct, the princess sisters Luna and Celestia." Said twilight.

"I rule here with my brother prince moon." He said. "He's not here right now, but I'm sure he would like to meet the three of you, but that is not of concern right now, please come this way, so we can speak in private." He said turning around and making his way to a door at the right. I followed him and so did the others. We made our way to the door and he used his magic to open it up. He turned back to us and opened his mouth to speak. "Scarlet, why don't you and the three travelers join me in the study, I wish to talk to the four of you in private."

"What about the rest of us?" asked moonlight standing with his friends.

"The six of you are free to find your way around town for now, there's something that I must discuss with these four." He said.

"y-yes prince." Said moonlight bowing his head and looking back at his friends. They all started to make their way out of the palace while we made our way into the study. I was the last one to walk inside and the doors closed behind me. The only light was coming from hanging candles on the wall and a large candle chandelier hanging above everything. All around the square room were bookshelves. Something about this room seemed familiar, and then it hit me like a book. This was the room where everything started. The room where I developed my shadow powers, I can feel it. Even though were in a separate dimension I feel tense being in this room. I can even hear the old faded voices echoing in my mind. I looked over to scarlet and she had the same look as I. She was looking around like something was haunting her.

"Hmm… oh, apologies scarlet, this is the room where it all began isn't it?" said prince solar looking over at scarlet.

"Uh, yeah… it is." She said blushing slightly.

"And the same must be for you traveler." Said the prince looking over to me.

"Yeah… same thing." I said looking around still seeing shadows moving across the walls. "This place haunts me even though I'm still in a separate dimension."

"Are you going to be okay crimson?" asked twilight brushing up to me and trying to comfort me. Her warm fur was quite pleasant and seemed to make the haunting memories fade.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I said. "Besides, it's not like the beginning lead to a bad ending. While I do admire my powers… I still wonder if it's all worth it."

"I suppose that is the one question that haunts everypony who wields any kind of power." Said the prince. "We ask ourselves the question of 'is it worth it?' but to no avail. Absolute power may be, but eternal we endure." He said quoting a very familiar phrase. "Now, the question that roams on my mind right now is, why have you come here?" he asked me.

"It wasn't much of a choice really, more or less." I said. "You see, I'm trying to hunt down an evil spirit that has captured somepony I hold very close to my heart." I said. "I'm hopping all around trying to find his lair." I said.

"This sounds familiar." Said the prince.

"You might know his name." I said. "Shall-Grahkan" the mention of that name caused the prince to stare at me with a dreadful look.

"Unfortunately, I do." Said prince solar. He turned away and walked over to a chest by a large mahogany desk. The chest was a dark brown, chestnut wood color with golden bindings. He used his magic to unlock the chest which was filled with papers and scrolls. Out of the pile of papers rose a scroll which seemed very familiar. He levitated it up and unraveled it. I could see past him and noticed that it was a map, it was the exact same map Celestia gave me, I was hoping that he would have one too. "Neverspring." He said.

"I'm sorry, what?" asked scarlet.

"Neverspring." He repeated. "That's where the next portal is."

"I've never heard of this place." Said twilight.

"Nopony talks about it, most ponies don't even know where it is, how to find it, or even know that it exists." He said. "It's to the north."

"How far to the north is it?" I asked.

"Very…" he said. "It's beyond equestria."

"But, there's no land north of equestria, the barrier cuts off at the sea." Said twilight. "There isn't even another continent that way… just sea."

"Not true." Said the prince. "Neverspring is a small tundra island not too far away from the shores of equestria. It's always snowing there and the island is eternally bound in the winter tundra, thus it's given the name Neverspring." He said. "The portal you are looking for is there, and it is also a place of current interest."

"Really... how so?" asked scarlet.

"It's hard to believe but there are actually ponies on never spring." Said solar.

"There… there are?" stuttered twilight.

"Yes, their king… king frostbite has ruled there for some time over the frozen cities." He said. "The place is dangerous though. Our two kingdoms trade because Neverspring is the only place that can grow tundra silk, which is made from frost flax which only grows in the bitter cold. "Our trade with them is the only thing that fuels their economy. We send them food and fresh water and they return the favor with their luxurious silks." He said levitating a piece of silk out of the chest which was light glue with white borders and a snowflake in the middle. He levitated the piece over to me and I grabbed hold of it. I held the silk in my hoof and it was amazingly soft. Twilight reached over and felt the silk and smiled.

"Wow… that feels amazing." She said.

"the tundra silk never heats up and stays at a perfect temperature, all the while the thinnest layering of tundra silk is enough to keep a pony warm in frigid and dangerous temperatures since it doesn't lose or conduct heat by any means, it's perfectly fire proof and wont snap or break unless cut by a blade." Said the prince. "Anyway, when I first met the king I asked him why he would live in such a horrid place. He said it wasn't so bad, but it was dangerous, he said the frost isn't the only thing that bites in the tundra."

"and what is that supposed to mean?" asked scarlet.

"on the tall ice mountains of Neverspring live families of ancient ice dragons, not only that but the wild tundra is plagued by frost wraith's, ice golems, glacier worms, tundra thrashers, and arctic dune hoppers."

"Sounds like a swell time." I said sarcastically.

"How they've survived this long is a mystery even to me." He said. "But upon arriving there once I saw that their cities were surrounded by great white walls of snow and ice, as well as the ponies who inhabit it. All were scarred and carrying weapons with them; obviously those ponies know what's out there and know how to deal with them. I thought ill of the ponies there, but beyond their frigid exteriors beats warm and comforting hearts, it's truly one of the strangest places in the world."

"You said it was a place of current interest… how so?" I asked.

"Well, it's been a few months now since I've heard word from king frostbite, we usually check in once every other month but it's been a while now. Prince moon volunteered to head over and check on things but that was a month ago, I haven't heard from him either and I've been growing worried. So I believe that its luck our paths should cross."

"Uh... okay, so what do you want us to do?" asked thunder.

"I want the four of you to travel to Neverspring and make sure everything is okay there and also find my brother." He said. "I can supply you with a royal airship as well as a competent crew and plenty supplies."

"Well, I guess we have to say yes… we, don't really have much of a choice."

"well, I'm in." said thunder. "it sure as hell beats walking."

"Do we uh, have to take an airship?" asked twilight timidly.

"It's the quickest way." Said scarlet.

"Why, is there something wrong?" asked thunder.

"I uh… I get a little air sick sometimes." She said blushing slightly. I looked at her with a worried look knowing better than anypony else in the room that she was lying. Something was troubling her and I knew what it was, and it was making me start to feel very guilty, guilty enough that I was starting to feel sick too.

"Don't worry twilight." I said giving her a reassuring smile. "Everything's going to be fine, it's going to be an easy trip, trust me." I said. She gave me an unsure smile back but I know she was still somewhat torn up from the last time she was on an airship.

"Now, with my brother gone I can't leave the kingdom unattended." Said prince solar taking all the attention. "I have to stay here, but I trust you four can handle the situation on your own."

"You can count on us solar." Said scarlet with a big smile.

"Good," he said "why don't the four of you join up with your friends and all come back here at eight tonight when the ship is stocked and ready to depart."

"Sure thing." Said scarlet again. She gave him another smile and we all stood up and got ready to leave the room.

"And one more thing." He said stopping us as we all turned around to see what he wanted. "Crimson, I think you'll need this." He said levitating the map over to me.

"Here crimson, I'll take It." said scarlet. "I'll keep it in my bags so you don't have to carry it everywhere." She said using her magic to take the map. I didn't stop her because it was a good idea.

"I was also informed that you three came here with little to no supplies." Said the prince. "I would suggest heading out and stocking up for the journey."

"Yeah that seems like a good idea." I said. We all agreed and started heading out. We left the study which added a bit of relief to me and scarlet. We left the castle and made our way into the town. All the guard ponies gave us strange looks but I can't really blame them. We started to make our way into town and we decided that we should meet up with the others before we start looking around for supplies. Scarlet suggested that they're at the smoothie stand since it was a hot day out and that is a good spot to find good smoothies. I think I know the place that she's talking about. It's the stand we all went to before the royal wedding. I started thinking about the wedding again and got chills down my spine.

"c'mon, it's not far from here." Said scarlet.

"I think I know the place you're talking about." Said twilight. "It's right next to a tailor isn't it?"

"Yeah that's right." Said scarlet.

"Then maybe after we get smoothies we should head over to the store and get some saddlebags to hold all our junk in." I suggested.

"Just what I was thinking." Said twilight smiling.

"But we don't have any money." Said thunder making a good point, we lost everything just trying to get here, which is a bit embarrassing when you think about all the valuable and priceless things we've lost.

"Don't worry, I've got more money than I know what to do with, I'll pay for the shopping spree." Said scarlet smiling.

"Thanks scarlet." said twilight.

"No problem, but how did you guys loose all of your stuff?" asked scarlet.

"It's kind of embarrassing." Said twilight who was blushing as well as thunder.

"Well I'd love to know." Said scarlet. "If that's alright with you three. It sounds like you've had quite an amazing adventure."

"Amazing is one word for it." I said.

"Well it's a bit of a long story really, and we should stick to the task at hoof, maybe some other time." Said twilight.

"Alright, I understand." Replied scarlet.

"Hey, aren't those your friends over there, scarlet?" I said pointing my head towards the five familiar ponies sitting down at an outdoor table next to a smoothie shop and sucking down colorful smoothies. They all had smiles on their faces as they all socialized.

"Well what d'ya know." She said. "That was easy, HEY GUYS." She shouted galloping over to them with a smile. I looked over to twilight and we both exchanged a smile and started to chase after scarlet as well. We eventually caught up to her and we all met up at the smoothie shop.

"Hey scarlet." said rainbow blitz.

"What'd the prince say?" asked appleseed.

"It's a bit of a tale, and I'm thirsty right now." Said scarlet. She looked over to the three of us and smiled. "Why don't we get some smoothies and then sit down and talk." She said.

"Sounds good." I said.

"I could go for a smoothie right now." Added thunder. So we went into the shop and got our smoothies and joined scarlet's friends outside. The table was a bit crowded with the ten of us there but we made room and sat down. we told scarlet's friends about what the king said and they seemed to take it pretty well, which isn't much of a surprise since she is just like me. She probably goes on crazy and ridiculous adventures all the time.

"Scarlet, whatever you do." Said oddity leaning across the table to scarlet and practically pushing her back with his face. "No matter what, you have to bring me back some of that tundra silk… you must." He said. I figured that since he was a guy he would act like less of a drama queen than rarity… but I was wrong. Scarlet just giggled and pushed him back in the seat.

"Yeah, no problem oddity." She said. He leaned across the table again and grabbed scarlet in a hug. She had to levitate her drink out of the way so it wouldn't spill everywhere.

"Thank you thank you thank you." He said shaking her and hugging her tightly. I could see scarlet's cheeks starting to turn red; I guess she was getting a bit flustered.

"Hng… oddity, oxygen… can't breathe." She sputtered. Oddity quickly let go of scarlet and blushed in embarrassment as scarlet started breathing heavily trying to get oxygen back into her system.

"Heh… sorry scarlet."

"It's… alright." She said.

"So, when are you leaving?" asked moonlight looking over at scarlet.

"Tonight, at eight." Replied scarlet.

"We still need time to collect supplies and get ourselves ready." I added.

"That too." Said scarlet nodding towards me. I leaned my head down and took a big sip of my smoothie as the others kept socializing. I tried paying attention to the conversation but soon everything just seemed to dull down into a noisy blur of incomprehensible sounds. i started to feel a strangely familiar dark presence as my sight started to fade and a black mist seemed to cover everything around me. I could only see as far as the street we were on, all the scenery seemed to disappear and everything went grey. I looked around as the dark presence I felt grew much stronger to the point where it felt like somepony was breathing down my neck. I followed my senses and looked over to an alleyway between two shops.

In the alleyway stood a dark figure, a very familiar dark figure, with white glowing eyes and black tentacles writhing out of its back. I looked at the figure and time around em seemed to stop and everything was still. I could start to hear whispers and voices running through my mind as I kept my focus on the black being. Suddenly a crack ran through his slimy black face and it opened up into a demented smile. The white background of the inside of his mouth outlined his thin black fangs and razor sharp teeth lined up in rows like jagged rocks. I kept an icy gaze focused on him as he started to move back into the darkness and out of my view. Soon his body was gone and all that was left was his demented smile, but that soon faded as well. With him gone I thought I could look away, but time kept still and the black mist stayed in place. I glared into the darkness and stood up. I started to make my way over to the alleyway and the black mist seemed to follow me only allowing me to see a few yards all around me.

As I made my way over the whispers and words in my head started growing stronger, louder, and more violent. It was like someone was yelling inside of my head. They were yelling violent and disturbing things at me. It was making my head start to hurt, and the words only grew more vicious as I walked closer to the alleyway. I constantly felt like somepony was breathing down on my neck but whenever I looked back there was nopony there, but the feeling persisted. I felt like a swarm of insects was crawling all over my body. My coat itched and tingled and grew more irritating with every step. I started to sweat and everything started to grow hazy and faded. And even still the voices yelling obscenities in my head grew clearer and more violent with every step.

"murderer." Grunted one of the voices. "how could you do that to her."

"rapist, you defiled her."

"you took her pride, left her to rot in her own filth."

"Undeserving."

"Disgusting."

"Demon…" the voices kept shouting and yelling in my head. Each voice was different. I wanted to scream out and make them stop but I found myself unable to speak. " you don't deserve her."

"You betrayed her trust."

"Left them to die."

"Slaughtered the innocent."

"Defiled the weak."

"Pathetic." The voices shouted. I kept marching forward and I clutched my eyes closed and swayed my head back and forth in denial hoping the voices would stop. Each word was like a knife cutting into my head. And I took one last step and the voices quickly faded away and their obscenities slowly merged with the silence until there was nothing. I opened my eyes in disbelief and looked around. I was in the middle of the alleyway now. The ground and walls were covered in a black substance, much like blood. It seemed to shine in the grey sunlight and was scattered and sprayed all over the place. The alleyway I stood in seemed to continue on into the darkness forever. I decided to keep moving forward and with each new step the alleyway grew revealing more and more black blood covering the walls.

I followed the black trail into the darkness and kept my guard up. The stone brick floor under me started to become more coarse and rough until it became gravel, and even more so until it was nothing but dirt now. I looked up and the walls on either side of me seemed to stop suddenly and I kept walking forward. There wasn't anything around for me to see, it was just ground and darkness. But suddenly the darkness started to fade and push back until the world was clear now, but not as I remembered it being. It darkness faded only to reveal a more dark and twisted world.

I found myself now in the Canterlot Park. The ground under me was dry and cracked, no grass grew here anymore. I looked up to see a black cloudy sky up above which let in only a scarce amount of sunlight. Around me was a wasteland which used to be Canterlot. The trees in the park were dead and rotted with black scars across them. The park benches where torn and broken. Beyond the park stood ruined building which looked like they had been condemned for thousands of years. All the metal was rusted, paint peeled off, wood… torn and rotten. And even further beyond that stood the Canterlot castle, torn and destroyed like the rest. The large tower where Celestia had her study was torn down and crashed to the ground. The roofs were caved in and all the windows smashed. Everything around was covered in a light layering of ash and soot. Even the sky was snowing with ash, like black snow. Up above everything stood the tip of the mountain which smoked violently and rained ash on the ground.

When I looked down a certain tree even more rotten and twisted than the rest seemed to stand out against everything else. The tree was surrounded by a small picket fence which had been rusted, rotted and mangled beyond repair. And hanging the lowest yet thickest branch was a pony. A mare who swaying under the tree, a few feet above the ground. She had a noose tied around her neck which was tied to the tree. She wasn't facing me; she had her back turned as she swayed gently. I started to make my way over to the tree slowly taking small steps. From the mane and tail I couldn't tell who the pony was. The rope around her neck seemed unscathed despite the ruined surroundings. As I grew closer to the mare the rope slowly twisted and the body began to turn around and finally revealed the face of the mare. I fell back out of shock and landed on the ground.

"Why…" choked out the hanging mare with big eyes and two stripes running through her mane. "Why did you do this… to… me?" she asked with one last dying breath before her whole body went limp and her eyes froze facing me. The pony hanging before me was twilight sparkle. Her body seemed like it had been ravaged and ripped showing scars on every inch of her body. A few tears leaked from her dead gaze but they weren't tears, it was only blood. Her mane was ragged and torn and her fur was soaked with blood. I picked myself up and closed my eyes. I know this isn't real; it's only a freak nightmare. I opened my eyes to see that nothing has changed. Even though I know this isn't real, I couldn't help but feel uneasy… and very, very guilty.

"What a sweat… and innocent, mare." Said a ghostly voice form behind me. I looked back angrily and saw the same black pony from before. His eyes glowing white and a demented smile across his face. "Well… she was, that is… until you came along." He said.

"I…I am going to find you… and you're going to pay… I swear on my life you're going to pay." I said angrily glaring at the pony who only proceeded to laugh at me.

"You know so little…" he said. "I see you have come a long way… but your still as weak and naive as you were to begin with."

"I am not weak, I've become strong, so I can defeat scum like you." I said.

"We shall see." He said. "But you have yet to understand the importance of your mission; you don't even know who I am." He said.

"I know who you are." I said. "You're shall-Grahkan, an evil pony who slays and traps the souls of immortals like me." I said. I thought I got him with that but he only started laughing again.

"Is that what they've told you?" he asked.

"y-yes." I said unsure. He only laughed even more.

"And you BELIEVED THEM?" he said hysterically. "They don't even know who I am… they have no idea how long I've been waiting for this, for someone like you." He said.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. He just smiled and turned his back as he started to walk away.

"All in due time young pawn, my plans will be clear. And by the spilling of your blood a new age will rise from the ashes, and all will tremble before the new king." He said as he faded away and the world went dark. "don't worry what they tell you crimson… I have other plans for you."

"GET BACK HERE!" I shouted running after him but it was too late. Everything started to go dark and the mist covered over me. I felt the pain of the voices in my head one last time as they started to shout my name. I closed my eyes to make it stop and grit my teeth. The voices grew louder and louder until finally all the voices but one of them stopped.

"Crimson?" said the voice, more pure and clear than the others. "Crimson!" the voice shouted again. it was a soothing and familiar voice. I opened my eyes and everything was the way it was, more or less. I found myself at the edge of the park. All color had been returned and I was back in the real world again. The sky was growing bright orange as the sun was starting to go down. "Crimson… hey, earth to crimson." Shouted the voice again. I quickly looked back to see twilight was the one shouting my name. Behind her stood thunder and scarlet looking at me with worried expressions.

"Hey, crimson, are you alright?" asked scarlet.

"Yeah dude, you suddenly left us earlier today at the smoothie shop and you've been gone all day." Said thunder.

"All… all day." I said. I looked up at the sky and look at the sun which was now hiding behind the mountain peak. It hasn't felt like more than ten minutes I've been in that weird colorless place.

"Yeah all day, we had to go and get you some saddlebags and other stuff." Said scarlet levitating over pair of saddlebags and using her magic to strap them onto me.

"We need to hurry." Said twilight. "Its 7:30 and the airship leaves at eight."

"Oh, yeah… let's go." I said. We all started to run off towards the castle where the airship is docked and I looked down at twilight. I looked at her and saw she was determined to go through all this with me which made me smile.

"so crimson what were you doing all by yourself?" asked twilight looking back at me.

"Oh… I was just doing some thinking." I said.

"Really, thinking about what." She asked. I just looked at her and gave her a big smile before flashes of my experience flashed through my mind and all the things that shall said started echoing through my mind changing my mood. "Crimson…" she said. "What were you thinking about?" she repeated.

"Just the future twilight." I said. "I was thinking about the future."

-Authors Note: Damn it deadchaos3... god damn you. get an account, please... its free.

anyway. thank you deadchaos for another good review to which i cannot give a personal reply to. but i wanted to answer the one thing you said about crimson being underpowered.

the reason i make crimson underpowered is so that it makes the story more fun to read, so that it's not too easy and adds a level of challenge. it would be like if you were playing a video game and the character you play as takes no damage, never looses, kills enemies easily, and can overcome every single obstacle... that's fucking boring if you ask me. i make crimson underpowered so that it isn't too easy. i mean...really? i know he's a god but whens the last time you heard of god, or Buddha, or Jesus ridding into battle and shooting lightning bolts at enemies. just because he's a god doesn't necessarily give him ultimate power... it's a title. And i do intend to be more creative with the combat style as the story progresses.

with that out of the way (damn it deadchaos3 get an account sow e can talk) we can now move onto the bulk of the AN.

i just want to let you guys know that this Saturday, the 28th, me and a bunch of my friends are going down to the cape for a week to have fun and relax, so I'm going to be taking a break from writing at that time. so you guys might not hear or see from me until early august. i wont be bringing any kind of computer device with me so if you guys send me any messages i wont be able to answer them until i get back, that doesn't mean you still shouldn't ask any questions or give me ideas, just dont expect a reply until i return. also when i get back i'm going to lose the poll so if you haven't voted yet do so before august 3rd.

with that said i hope you guys liked this new chapter and be sure to leave a review and follow the story if you want more action. until next time guys i hope you all have a very shady summer.-End of Note.-


	51. Chapter 51: Syllabels And Shadows

-Authors Note: hey guys, bellow this is a poem, yes... a poem. it does have to do with reborn in a way that's somewhat... mysterious and foreshadowing and i though that it would be a perfect time to interject it with the I've had this for a while and i was waiting for the perfect moment to use it and i thought why not now. this comes right from my poem journal that i keep. and no... i'm not a moody hipster poem writer, but i do enjoy writing poems. and this ones is one of my favorite. if you read it you can tell that it was definitely inspired by MLP, more specifically the relationship between the princesses Celestia and Luna. but i worked it to make sense with the story. so i hope you guys like it, be sure to follow the story and write a review, stay shady guys.-End of Note-

SYLLABLES AND SHADOWS  


-_The Darkest Night_-

Through the stars

The plains and the cosmos

All is in perfect tune

Stars align in the dead of night

As midnight fades into noon

All is silent and well and the little ponies sleep

But have no one to turn to

No one to pray for their souls to keep

So blindly they smile and sleep in the darkness

When around them trouble toils

Festering, bubbling, and black

Where prying eyes

Do find surprise

As the beasts of the night attack

Slowly and surely the darkness they sleep

Soon devours their souls

For their blindness and ignorance

They must pay the toll

So unto the darkness the moonlight will keep

Heavenly waves of grey

So soundly the moonlight protects them

Warding the evil away

Until the sun does arise

To wake sleepy eyes

And the evil of night runs astray

For the morning doth come

And all's said and done

As the night is carried away

But such is the past

And the sun will not last

And the moon shall rise up again

The morning will fade

And darkness will wade

And the ponies will sleep only then

Once more in the darkness

They crawl in their beds

And lay down their heads

And wander off into dreams

So unto the darkness the moonlight will keep

Heavenly waves of grey

So soundly the moonlight protects them

Warding the evil away

Until the sun does arise

To wake sleepy eyes

And the evil of night runs astray

For the morning doth come

And all's said and done

As the night is carried away

So as the night fades

So do the souls

Of those who did not drift asleep

Carried away in the darkness of night

In a world of terror and fright

An everlasting nightmare for those who did only right

So lost and forgotten these ponies carry on

Dreaming of illusions from dusk until dawn

Only to sleep with the stars


	52. Chapter 52: Lost And Alone

I finished helping the last of the accompanying guards move the rest of the luggage and supplies into the lower deck of the medium sized airship. Scarlet was still topside waving goodbye to her friends as we slowly started sailing away into the early night sky. As I released my magical hold on several crates of perishable food and water one of the female guards nodded her head at me and gave me a grateful smile. I returned the smile and she walked off to do whatever her next set of orders were. With everything all packed away and the ship at a steady pace do north there was nothing more to do. I walked up the stairs onto the deck and saw scarlet still waving goodbye to her friends which were now becoming more distant. I walked up to her side and gave them a wave as well. She looked over to me and smiled.

"Well, the adventure begins." She said.

"Ha-ha, so it does." I replied.

"I'm actually very excited." She said. "Neverspring… I wonder what it's like."

"Probably just a lot of snow and ice, along with bitter frozen ponies." I said. "It's probably not the nicest place to live."

"probably." Said scarlet giggling. She looked away towards the sky and smiled. "Well, it's going to be a few days before we make it to Neverspring, captain said that if we're lucky we'll make it in only four days." She said.

"And if we're unlucky?" I asked as we both started making our way across the deck.

"Well the captain said that if were unlucky the ship will crash and we'll most likely not survive." Said scarlet. I chuckled slightly at the remark.

"Great to know that we've got such an optimistic captain." I said.

"Well with the two of us on this ship I don't think that we have to worry about anything going wrong." Said scarlet reassuringly.

"I don't know about that." I said rolling my eyes and smiling. "I've crashed a ship or two in my days." I said thinking back to some bad times when I was stuck inside scars body. Along with those thoughts I got horrible flashbacks, but I quickly shook them off and pretended they never happened.

"Oh crimson, I feel so safe with you." She said sarcastically and doing a fake swoon. I laughed a bit and she smiled. "Anyway, I think I've had enough for today, I'm going to turn in, there's nothing left to do… you coming." She asked walking ahead of me towards the lower deck stairs.

"I think I'll stay topside for a little bit longer." I said. She just smiled and walked down into the cabin. Soon it was just me and a few other guards on their patrols walking around the ship and making sure everything is in order. I looked up to the sky which was on the very verge of night. The stars were now visible in the sky along with the moon and on the horizon laid Canterlot covered in an orange and pink glow from the sun still shining behind the great mountains. Suddenly I heard a depressing sigh from the right of me and looked over to see where it came from. I looked over to see twilight resting up against the side of the ship and looking out into the night sky. I walked over but she kept her gaze out onto the sky. I sat down right next to her but she didn't seem to notice me. "Hey, Are you alright?" I asked. She gave me no reply.

"How come this all happened?" she asked without looking away.

"Huh?" I stuttered looking at her with confusion.

"I remember when things used to be simple, when the only thing I had to worry about was what the princess was going to be testing me on. I spent my days studying and reading, and everything was fine, boring… but fine." She said. "Now I'm on an adventure almost every day risking my life. My life has never been more exciting, but I'm not sure if it's really worth it."

"Twilight…" I said worryingly.

"I still remember that day we found you… the real you." She said. "In the everfree forest, when we were going after nightmare moon. You were hurt and alone in the woods. You were scared and confused, like some kind of wounded animal. And we quickly became friends, the best of friends… and that's when all of this happened… and I don't know why." She said. "Now I feel like I'm the one who's hurt, and scared, and confused."

"If you're saying that this is all my fault, well… I don't blame you, it probably all is my fault." I said with a guilty conscience.

"That's not what I'm saying at all." She said turning and looking at me. "I just wish things could be simple again.

"Twilight, you have no idea how many times I wish the same thing." I said. "If I could give up all my power to live a simple life I would do it in a heartbeat." Twilight smiled a bit and looked back to the sky.

"Yeah… I would too." She said. She let out another sigh as the purple and orange hue faded from the sky and everything was darker now. Light from lit lanterns behind us brightened up the ship and made it possible to see. The sky was flooded with stars as there weren't any clouds in the sky to block them. And the moon glowed with an iridescent bluish light which gave the surrounding sky a magical midnight blue hue. I cold gust of wind blew in from behind us and twilight's hair was pulled forward by the gust of cold night wind as was mine. She grit her teeth and shivered from the cold night air and the gust of wind faded. I slid closer and reached one of my wings out to cover her from the cold.

"Cold out, isn't it?" I said smiling. She just murmured a silent yes and smiled as she looked up to the sky. I looked over at the sky and stared as well. "It kinda makes you wonder doesn't it." I said. "I look at the sky all the time and wonder why out of everything out there… out of all possible forms of life or different planets and solar systems, across the infinitely expanding universe and all the dimensions… why does this happen to us?" I said.

"That's a lot to think about." Said twilight as we both kept our gaze at the sky.

"Yeah, but then I think…. Well, what if it doesn't matter?" I said. "what if no matter what my life was like before all of this, I would eventually get to this point regardless of the decisions I made… like all my life has lead up to this." I said. "And that would make you think about things like, is there such a thing as fate? And… is there a higher power in all of this? Is there a higher power beyond that one too?" I said. "The more I think about it the more questions I'm left with, and they all don't seem to have an answer."

"But if we lead a normal life we wouldn't have to worry about all those things, life would be simple." Said twilight.

"Yeah… that's true." I said smiling. "But if we both had normal lives, think about what would have happened to all those ponies that we've met along our travels. We would never have met them. Princess Luna, mystee and her family, Nightflame, Black Hoof, and Thunder rush, Celestia, King Sapphire, Alba Rose, all those ponies we've met whose lives would be different if we didn't help them." I said. "It's scary isn't it…? How with enough power, one being can shape the world to how he or she sees fit."

"I… guess." Said twilight looking down now.

"But whenever I think about that, my friends and family run through my thoughts as well." I said. "And I think about you and fluttershy, rainbow dash, applejack, rarity, pinkie pie, spike and the others in ponyville." I said looking down at twilight who seemed rather troubled and confused.

"Mmmm…" she hummed still looking down.

"twilight." I said pulling myself even closer to her. She noticed and looked up at me. "You're one of my best friends, I never really had many friends in life, I was always alone usually… so it means a lot to have such great friends now, you, thunder, and the others… I would do anything to keep you all safe. And I'm sorry that you have to suffer things like this with me, if I could change that I would… but some things are even out of my control… and I'm sorry if you feel hurt and alone, if you feel scared and confused… I'm sorry. But I'm always going to be here for you, weather you need somepony to share a happy story with, or if you need a shoulder to cry on." I gave her a big confident smile and she gave me the same hopeful look she always does.

"Crimson...I…I…" she stuttered.

"What is it twilight?" I asked. "You can tell me anything." I said still smiling. She just stared at me with her big purple eyes and I could see she started to blush. I was going to ask her what was wrong, when she caught me off guard and lunged at me. She pushed herself against me and planted a deep kiss right on my lips. Out of shock my eyes shrunk back into my heard and I froze as she pressed her warm lips up against mine. She was putting all of her bottled emotions into this one kiss as she had her eyes closed like she was lost in her dreams. I wanted to pull away but I was frozen there. Soon though she opened up her eyes and a look of shock washed over her and she pulled herself off me and quickly stood up on her hooves.

"Oh god crimson… I'm… I'm so sorry… I… I just…" but without saying anything more she bolted off to the lower deck and I sat there still frozen in place.

"Wait… twilight." I said reaching out like I could grab her and pull her back but that was impractical and I was simply reaching out to nothing. Within seconds she was gone and I was just sitting there, alone and confused… very confused. In all honesty, I should have seen that coming. I don't know if I've been leading her on, or if she's always felt like that. I turned back around feeling guilty again and looked up to the sky. I watched the stars like I was trying to find the answer to my problems. Suddenly one by one the stars began to fade until the sky was black, everything started turning dull and grey like a familiar nightmare until a very chilling but regretfully familiar voice echoed out behind me.

"… What a poor girl." Said the raspy and broken voice. I looked behind me to see a shadow of a pony with white eyes and a sadistic smile. "All she wants is somebody to confide in… to keep her safe." He said.

"You shut up… don't you dare talk about my friends." I said angrily.

"Is she really your friend Alex…?" the pony said "Or is she something more?"

"I said shut up…"

"Now now, there's no need to get angry, you'll get your revenge soon enough… patience Alex… it's a virtue and a curse." He said. "Poor little twilight is so lost and confused… she wants to turn to you for safety, to confide in you after everything that's happened to her… but she can't, you won't let her."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's so obvious… you're the god of peace and balance… obviously you can see It." he said. "After what you… oops, I mean… scar, did to her, she's been scared out of her mind. Without you there her whole world shattered… and then you come back, just like that, like a miracle." He said circling around me. "Now in the shambles of her broken world, you, a miracle, are the only light she can see in a realm of darkness and self loathing. So she tries to follow you… the light, trying to get as close as she can, for warmth and comfort. She believes that you are the only one who can keep her safe from the harsh reality of life… but no matter how much she chases after that little light, it only stays just a hair our of her reach, until just then… when she kissed you." He said. "You must have felt it… all those juicy emotions, bubbling up and being expressed in the purest form ever…. Love."

"What do you know about love?!" I shouted angrily.

"Enough to know that it's a knife with no purpose and two edges." He said raising his voice. "It can make a man happy for the rest of his life; it can be kind to him and show him the true wonders of the world. It can be used to protect him and make him safe as he confides within the ones he loves." Said the shadow. "Or it can be used to destroy a man and take from him everything he holds dear to him. He can go chasing after love his whole life until it turns on him and stabs him in the heart leaving him to slowly die within himself. And then there's you crimson… you… you toy with both edges of the knife, clinging to the ones you love… but do you really love them, or I you just happy to be around them. You say you would do anything to protect the ones you love… but you constantly drag them into the spiraling pit of fire that you call your life… you don't deserve the life you've been given… and I intend to correct that." he said calming down. "but… within time… right now you've got problems to solve… things to attend to… maybe if you're lucky you'll figure out what love is really like before we meet."

I wanted to lash out at him in anger, but before I could everything started to return to life and color reappeared in the world. I looked up at the sky and the night was lined with stars again and the moon continued to glow brightly. I looked around and there weren't any guards on the ship, they must have turned in. I looked back at the moon to see that it had noticeably moved position and it was very late at night. I felt tired now and started making my way down to the lower deck. Once I got down I looked over to the sleeping quarters where the others were resting. Knowing twilight was in there made me somewhat uncomfortable. I didn't want to face her just yet, decided to rest up on one of the crew's hammocks which was empty tonight. I crawled into the hammock and swung slightly until it came to a stop. I closed my eyes and started to wander off into my own dreams.

I wish I was normal even more than I have ever before…

-Authors Note: hey guys, i hope you enjoyed this very emotional chapter, even though it was rather short. as the summer draws to its near end and school is about to pick up again i think my streak of summer laziness is at its end, so I'm going to try to get back to writing like i used to, but i dont promise immediate results. anyway, i think that its becoming more clear whats happening between twilight and crimson now... juicy stuff. anyway, there's nothing much more i can say about it without revealing too many things, but just know when this story ends it's going to end big and in a way that nobody would expect. thanks for hanging in there guys, the end is closing in on us and the final battle between gods is near. please favorite and write a review and i'll catch you guys next time. stay shady my friends.-End of Note-


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